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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Early Sketches 
of 

GEORGE WASHINGTON 



7^/ 



Two Hundred and Fifty Copies Printed. 



Early Sketches 

of 

GEORGE WASHINGTON 

REPRINTED WITH 

BIOGRAPHICAL AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL 

NOTES 

BY 

WILLIAM S. BAKER 

M 
AUTHOR OF THE ENGRAVED PORTRAITS OF WASHING- 
TON • MEDALLIC PORTRAITS OF WASHINGTON • CHAR- 
ACTER PORTRAITS OF WASHINGTON • BIBLIOTHECA 
WASHINGTONIANA • ITINERARY OF GENERAL WASHING- 
TON, 1 775-1 783 • ETC. • ETC. 



..." that heroic Youth Col. Wash- 
ington, whom I cannot but hope Provi- 
dence has hitherto preserved in so signal 
a Manner, for some important Service to 
his Country." — SAMUEL Davies, 1755 



PHILADELPHIA 

J. B. L/PP/NCOTT COMPANY 

MDCCCXCIV 



'J^or^^f 



or wasv\>-' .1 



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Copyright, 1893, 

BY 

William Spohn Baker. 



Pbinted by J. B.LiPPiNcoTT Company, Philadeiphia. 



CONTENTS. 



Preface 7 

George Mercer 1700 11 

Anonymous 1775 17 

Jonathan Boucher 1776 23 

Bennet Allen 1776 29 

Anonymous 1777 35 

An Old Soldier 1778 46 

Anonymous 1779 57 

John Bell . 1779 63 

Anonymous 1780 81 

John F. D. Smyth 1784 87 

Thomas Jones 1785 93 

Jedidiah Morse 1789 105 

David Kamsay 1789 127 

Samuel Stearns 1791 136 

James Hardie 1795 147 



PREFACE. 

The earliest sketch of Washington which 
aspires to the dignity of a biography was pub- 
lished at Philadelphia in 1798, the year pre- 
ceding his death. It appeared in the Philadelphia 
Monthly Magazine, and was entitled "Memoirs 
of George Washington, Esq., late President of 
the United States." These Memoirs were com- 
piled by Thomas Condie, a stationer and book- 
binder of that city, who died about the year 
1815; the Magazine, published by Mr. Condie 
at No. 20 Carter's Alley, was issued only for 
one year, — 1798. 

Before this date, both in England and Amer- 
ica, a number of sketches or notices of more 
or less interest had appeared in various forms 
of publication. Such of them as have come to 
the knowledge of the writer are now reprinted 
in this volume ; the object being to furnish in 
a compact form the early links, however imper- 
fect, of a chain of study and research which, 

7 



8 PREFACE. 

since the commencement of the century, has 
steadily increased in size and importance. 

The most complete of these sketches, those 
by John Bell (1779) and Jedidiah Morse (1789), 
were freely used by Mr. Condie, his work being 
rounded out by the introduction of Washing- 
ton's Journal of 1753; the address of the Pro- 
vincial Congress of New York, with the answer, 
June 26, 1775; the Farewell Address to the 
armies of the United States, November 2, 1783 ; 
the resignation of his commission at Annapolis, 
December 23, 1783; his letter to the Governor 
of Virginia declining the acceptance of certain 
shares in an improvement company, October 
29, 1785 ; and his Inaugural Address to Con- 
gress, April 30, 1789. 

These Memoirs, with considerable additional 
matter, were afterward published in book-form 
in 1800, with the title, " Biographical Memoirs of 
the Illustrious Gen. Geo: Washington, late Presi- 
dent of the United States of America, &c., &c. 
Containing a History of the Principal Events 
of his Life, with Extracts from his Journals, 
Speeches to Congress and Public Addresses : — 
Also a sketch of his Private Life." Philadel- 



PREFACE. 9 

jpUa: Printed by Charkss ^ Ralston, 1800. 18mo, 
pp. 232. 

Subsequent editions appeared at Philadelphia 
in 1801 and 1811; at Trenton, :N'e\v Jersey, 
1811; at Brattleborough, Vermont, 1811, 1814; 
and at Hartford, Connecticut, 1813. 

In reprinting in chronological sequence the 
sketches which preceded the Memoirs by Con- 
die, it will be understood that a strict renderino- 
of each has been given without comment or 
correction, the biographical and bibliographical 
notes appended to each reprint being deemed 
all that was necessary. 

The description of the personal appearance of 
"Washington, written in 1760, the twenty-eighth 
year of his age, and the year after his marriage, 
may be considered an appropriate introduction. 

The portrait prefixed to the volume is a re- 
production of the original study by Charles 
Willson Peale, for the three-quarter length 
painted at Mount Vernon in May, 1772. This 
study, the first authentic portrait of Washing- 
ton, was retained by Mr. Peale, and, at the time 
of the sale and dispersion of his gallery at 
Philadelphia, October, 1854, was purchased by 



XO PREFACE. 

Mr. Charles S. Ogden, of that city, who pre- 
sented it to the Historical Society of Pennsyl- 
vania, February 22, 1892. The three-quarter 
length, representing Washington in the costume 
of a colonel in the Virginia militia, is now 
owned by George "Washington Custis Lee, eldest 
son of General Robert E. Lee, and President 
of Washington and Lee University, Lexington, 
Virginia. 

W. S. Baker. 
Philadelphia. 

Nov. 1, 1893. 



GEORGE MERCER. 
1760. 



GEORGE MERCER. 
1760. 

Although distrusting my ability to give an 
adequate account of the personal appearance of 
Col. George "Washington, late Commander of 
the Virginia Provincial troops, I shall, as you 
request, attempt the portraiture. He may be 
described as being as straight as an Indian, 
measuring six feet two inches in his stockings, 
and weighing 175 pounds when he took his seat 
in the House of Burgesses in 1759. His frame is 
padded with well-developed muscles, indicating 
great strength. His bones and joints are large, 
as are his feet and hands. He is wide shoul- 
dered, but has not a deep or round chest; is 
neat waisted, but is broad across the hips, and 
has rather long legs and arms. His head is well 
shaped though not large, but is gracefully poised 
on a superb neck. A large and straight rather 
than a prominent nose; blue-gray penetrating 
eyes, which are widely separated and overhung 
by a heavy brow. His face is long rather than 

13 



14 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

broad, with high round cheek bones, and ter- 
minates in a good firm chin. He has a clear 
though rather a colorless pale skin, which burns 
with the sun. A pleasing, benevolent, though 
a commanding countenance, dark brown hair, 
which he wears in a cue. His mouth is large 
and generally firmly closed, but which from time 
to time discloses some defective teeth. His feat- 
ures are regular and placid, with all the muscles 
of his face under perfect control, though flexible 
and expressive of deep feeling when moved by 
emotions. In conversation he looks you fall in 
the face, is deliberate, deferential and engaging. 
His voice is agreeable rather than strong. His 
demeanor at all times composed and dignified. 
His movements and gestures are graceful, his 
walk majestic, and he is a splendid horseman. 

[The above description of the personal appearance of 
Washington, at the age of twenty-eight, is quoted by Joseph 
M. Toner, M.D., in " George Washington as an Inventor 
and Promoter of the Useful Arts," an address delivered at 
Mount Vernon, April 10, 1891, on the occasion of the visit 
of the officers and members of the Patent Centennial Cele- 
bration. It was transcribed from a copy of a letter written 
in 1760, by Captain George Mercer, of Virginia, to a friend 
in Europe. 



GEORGE MERCER. ^5 

George Mercer, son of John Mercer, of Marlboro', Vir- 
ginia, was born June 23, 1733, and served as lieutenant and 
captain in the regiment of Washington in 1754; he also 
accompanied T^'ashington to Boston, in February, 1756, on 
his mission to General Shirley, relative to the precedence of 
military rank between crown and provincial commissions. 
Captain Mercer went to England in 1763, as the agent of the 
Ohio Company, of which his father was secretary, and re- 
turned to Virginia in 1765, as collector for the Crown under 
the Stamp Act, but found the measure so obnoxious that he 
declined to serve. Going to England again he was appointed 
(September 17, 1768), Lieutenant-Governor of North Caro- 
lina, but soon relinquished the office. He returned to Eng- 
land prior to the Kevolution ; and died there in April, 1784. 
— W. S. B.] 



ANONYMOUS. 



I 



ANONYMOUS. 21 

himself as a private in Wade's troop of horse ; he afterwards 
purchased a cornetcy in the same troop, where he continued 
to serve till after the late rebellion, when the troop being 
broke, he went abroad, and at the beginning of the late war 
was promoted in America, where he served in the capacity 
of a Colonel with signal courage and fidelity ; which so 
endeared him to that people, that they unanimously chose 
him to the chief command upon the present contest. Several 
of his relations now reside at Coventry, and a nephew of his 
is a member of that corporation." 

In his note to the printer of the Chronicle, the writer of 
the sketch says : " I was surprised on reading, in last week's 
papers, some anecdotes relating to a Gentleman of Mr. Wash- 
ington's rank, and who is personally known to many dis- 
tinguished Officers in his Majesty's service, so contrary to 
fact. The relater of it might with the same degree of truth 
have told the public that Mr. Washington's mother was an 
Aldertnan and his aunt a Justice of Peace, as that his mother 
was niece to General Monk." — W. S. B.] 



JONATHAN BOUCHER. 
1776. 



26 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

casion, which, in Virginia at least, drew on him 
some ridicule. Yet when, soon after, a regiment 
was raised in Virginia, he had interest enough 
to be appointed the Lieutenant-Colonel of it, or 
rather, I believe, at first the Major only. A Colo- 
nel Jefferson, who had formerly been grammar 
master in the College, commanded the regiment, 
and a Colonel Muse, who had been a sergeant, 
and therefore knew something of military dis- 
cipline and exercise, was the second in command. 
Jefferson soon died, and Muse was disgraced, 
from some imputations of cowardice, so that 
the command devolved on Mr. Washington. At 
Braddock's defeat, and every subsequent occa- 
sion throughout the war, he acquitted himself 
much in the same manner as in my judgment he 
has since done — i.e. decently but never greatly. 
I did know Mr. Washington well ; and though 
occasions may call forth traits of character that 
never could have been discovered in the more 
sequestered scenes of life, I cannot conceive how 
he could, otherwise than through the interested 
representations of party, have ever been spoken 
of as a great man. He is shy, silent, slow, and 
cautious, but has no quickness of parts, extraor- 



JONATHAN BOUCHER. 27 

dinary penetration, nor an elevated style of 
thinking. In liis moral character he is regular, 
temperate, strictly just and honest (except that 
as a Virginian he has lately found out that there 
is no moral turpitude in not paying what he 
confesses he owes to a British creditor), and, as 
I always thought, religious; having heretofore 
been pretty constant and even exemplary, in his 
attendance on public worship in the Church of 
England. But he seems to have nothing gen- 
erous or affectionate in his nature. Just before 
the close of the last war he married the widow 
Custis, and thus came into possession of her 
large jointure. He never had any children, and 
lived very much like a gentleman at Mount Ver- 
non, in Fairfax County, where the most distin- 
guished part of his character was that he was an 
admirable farmer. 

[Jonathan Boucher was born at Blencogo, Cumberland 
County, England, 12 March, 1738, and died at Epsom, 27 
April, 1804. He came to America in 1759, and was for some 
time a private tutor, having under his care, among others, 
John Parke Custis, the son of Mrs. Washington. He after- 
ward took orders in the Anglican Church, and was appointed 
rector of Hanover, then of St. Mary's parish, Va., and 
finally of St. Anne's at Annapolis. Dr. Boucher took a firm 



28 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

stand in opposition to the prevalent doctrines of indepen- 
dence, and gave such offence to his congregation that he was 
obliged to return to England in the latter part of the year 
1775. At the time of his death he was vicar of Epsom, 
having been appointed in 1785. Portions of his MS. recol- 
lections were published by his grandson, Jonathan Bouchier, 
in vols, i., v., vi., and ix. of Notes and Queries, Series 5, 
1874-78. Our extract is from vol. v., p. 501.— W. S. B.] 



BENNET ALLEN. 
1776. 



^' 



BENNET ALLEN. 
1776. 

Washington is a native of Virginia ; his first 
employment was as clerk in Lord Fairfax's land- 
ofBce, who afterwards made him a land-surveyor, 
in which capacity he took up most of the best 
vacant land in the Northern Neck of Virginia 
for himself and his brother. By these and other 
means he possessed himself of a considerable 
landed property, and became of consequence 
enough to obtain a command of the Provincial 
forces in the last war ; at the beginning of which 
he was defeated at a place known by the name 
of the Little Meadows. He was likewise in 
Braddock's defeat, and is said to have been use- 
ful in bringing off the remains of that corps. 
This was all the military experience he had an 
opportunity of gaining. His abilities are of that 
mediocrity which creates no jealousy; his nat- 
ural temper makes him reserved, his want of 
education renders him difiident, and to these 
negative qualities he seems to have been as much 

31 



32 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

indebted for his appointment and the continuance 
of his command, as to political motives. The 
New England delegates concurred in making 
him the offer of the chief command, to secure 
the fidelity of Virginia, and the southern prov- 
inces; and he pretended that political reasons 
induced him to accept of it, to preserve a bal- 
ance of power against the northern provinces. 
He is ambitious, with the fairest professions of 
moderation, and avaritious under the most spe- 
cious appearance of disinterestedness — particu- 
larly eager in engrossing large tracts of land, 
though he has no family, but by a widow lady 
of fortune he married, who bore children by a 
former husband. He has not perhaps less than 
two hundred thousand acres surveyed for him 
on the Ohio, first purchasing officers rights for a 
trifle, and then procuring an order of the council 
of Virginia to extend the proclamation of 1763 
to the Provincials employed in the last war.* It 

* The following extract of a letter from Colonel George 
"Washington to his agent, dated December 27, 1773, will 
explain a transaction but little known in England. " I have 
just obtained an order of council to grant lands under the 
King's proclamation of October, 1763, to the officers and 






BENNET ALLEN. 33 

has been a matter of surprize, that he could so 
long have made head against the King's forces ; 

soldiers, by which a lieutenant is entitled to 2000 acres, but 
that the Governor would not grant his warrants of survey to 
any that did not personally apply for them. Numbers, how- 
ever, are obtaining these warrants, and locating them with 
the surveyors of Augusta, Botetourt, and Fincastle, by 
whom and their deputies, all these surveys are to be made. 

"Till I see your brother I am at a loss to locate my own 
lands under the proclamation of 1763, and am sensible that 
every day's delay may prove hurtful, as I suppose every 
officer and soldier within the three provinces, either is or will 
be upon the move to locate their lands, by which means all 

the valuable spots will be engrossed. 

G. W. 

" P.S. — No land will be granted to any but officers and 
soldiers." 

It is evident Washington egregiously outwitted the Gov- 
ernor of Virginia ; his request was singularly modest, to 
include the Provincial officers and soldiers in the grant, for 
whom the King's proclamation could not design these lands, 
for this obvious reason, that the object of the war was an- 
swered by securing them in possession of their own lands — 
and to exclude the British officers and soldiers, for whose 
reward they were assigned, and to whose distressed families 
they might hereafter have proved a seasonable refuge, by 
insisting upon their personal application in Virginia. Many 
friends of Government likewise on the spot were excluded 
by the grants being only made to the military — and the 



34 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

but the circumstances of the country, all favour 
the want of skill in the General, and of disci- 
pline in the troops. 

[This sketch, in connection with one of Benjamin Frank- 
lin, originally appeared in the London Morning Post of 
June 1, 1779, followed by others of Thomas Johnson, Daniel 
Dulany, Patrick Henry, and General Lee in the issue of 
June 29, the introduction stating that they were written on 
the spot in the year 1776. Exceptions were taken to the 
sketch of Daniel Dulany by his brother, Lloyd Dulany, a 
Loyalist, then in London, who challenged through the pages 
of the paper the unknown writer, afterward discovered to be 
the Kev. Bennet Allen, and a meeting was arranged in Hyde 
Park, which resulted in the death of Mr. Dulany. Allen 
was tried at the Old Bailey, found guilty of manslaughter, 
and sentenced to a fine of one shilling and six months' im- 
prisonment in Newgate. The sketches, with a history of the 
duel, were subsequently published in the Political Magazine, 
July, 1782. 

Bennet Allen was educated at Wadhani College, Oxford, 
where he took the degree of B.A., 16 November, 1757, and 
that of M.A., 12 July, 1760. He subsequently appears to 
have taken holy orders, and officiated for a time in Frederick 
County, Maryland, but finally settled in London, where his 
writings and associations prove him to have been singularly 
unfitted to bear the title of Eeverend. — W. S. B.] 

possession of these lands, as it will afford a safe asylum to 
the American leaders, if unsuccessful, so it will enlarge their 
territory to a boundless extent, if they establish independency. 



ANONYMOUS. 

1777. 



ANONYMOUS. 
1777. 

CHARACTER OF GENERAL WASHINGTON. 

There are some men, who seem to be singled 
out by Heaven as the authors of great good, and 
others of much misery to their species. Among 
those so distinguished must be ranked George 
"Washington, commander in chief of the forces, 
and protector of the united states of America. 
But whether he ought to be considered as 
the author of good or ill, we presume not 
to say: that point we leave to be determined 
by the historians of future ages. 

During the late war in America, this gen- 
tleman distinguished himself eminently as a 
colonel of the provincial militia; and was 
of singular service to his country in repelling 
the incursions of the French and Indians, as 
well as in acting offensivtly against the enemy. 
After the peace, he retired to a private station, 
loaded with honour, and seemingly satisfied 
with the praise of a good citizen ; — the con- 

37 



38 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

sciousness of having done Ms duty, and de- 
served the esteem of his fellow-countrymen, 
without making use of his superior reputation 
to usurp over his equals, or of his popularity 
to disturb the peace of the state. But no 
sooner was an attempt made to recover by a 
stamp-duty, some part of the sums expended 
in protecting America, than Mr. "Washington, 
among others, flew boldly in the face of the 
British legislature : the progress of the dispute 
is well known; and as soon as it was judged 
necessary to repel force by force, he was 
chosen by the congress to command their 
armies, along with Mr. Lee. 

Whether Mr. Washington had then in pros- 
pect that high dignity to which he has now 
attained, it is impossible to say with cer- 
tainty ; and consequently to determine, whether 
his opposition to government was dictated by 
ambition, or inspired by principle. If we may 
judge from the letters published in his name, 
the amor iMtricE seems first to have roused him 
to action. ' Heaven that knows my heart,' says 
he, 'knows how truly I love my country; and 
that I embarked in this arduous enterprise on 



ANONYMOUS. 39 

the purest motives. But we have overshot our 
mark: we have grasped at things beyond our 
reach. It is impossible that we should suc- 
ceed; and I cannot, with truth, say that I am 
sorry for it, because I am far from being sure 
that we deserve to succeed!' He here alhides 
to the scheme of independency, which it ap- 
pears he opposed. He afterwards, however, 
adds, (probably when ambitious passions had 
insinuated themselves into his heart) 'If it be 
the will of God that America should be inde- 
pendent of Great Britain, and that this be the 
season for it, even I, and these unhopeful men 
around me, may not be thought unworthy in- 
struments in his hands.' 

But whatever may be the governing principle 
of Mr. "Washington, in the present contest, he 
is a man of bold and liberal sentiments, and 
more of a general than was imagined either 
by his friends or his enemies. This is alike 
discoverable in his conduct and his opinion 
of military matters. 'A good army,' says he, 
'is by no means secured, as some seem to 
reckon, by securing a large number of men. 
We want soldiers; and between these and 



40 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

raw undisciplined men there is a wide dif- 
ference. The question then is, how are these 
raw and undisciplined men to be formed 
into good soldiers? — And I am free to give it 
as my opinion, that, so far from contributing 
to this end, will strong holds, fortified posts, 
and deep entrenchments be found, that they 
will have a direct contrary effect. To be a 
soldier, is to be inured to, and familiar with 
danger; to dare to look your enemy in the 
face, unsheltered and exposed to their fire, 
and even when repulsed, to rally again with 
undiminished spirit. — It would almost be worth 
our while to be defeated, if it were only to train 
us to stand fire, and to bear a reverse of fortune 
with a decent magnanimity.' 

In a word, whatever fortune may attend Gen. 
Washington's operations, or whatever use he 
may make of those dictatorial powers with 
which his deluded countrymen have impru- 
dently vested him, we cannot at present justly 
challenge either his abilities as a soldier, or his 
principles as a patriot. His own sentiments, in 
regard to the part he has to act, will not improp- 
erly conclude this character. 'I am prepared 



ANONYMOUS. 4^ 

for every event, one only excepted — I mean 
a dishonourable peace. Rather than that, let 
me, though it should be with the loss of every 
thing else I hold dear, continue this horrid 
trade; and by the most unlikely means, be 
the unworthy instrument of preserving polit- 
ical security and happiness to them {English- 
men) as well as ourselves. — Pity this cannot be 
accomplished without fixing on me the odious 
name of rebel! I love my king; you know 
I do: a soldier, a good man cannot but love 
him; — how peculiarly hard then is our for- 
tune to be deemed traitors to so good a king! 
But I am not yet without hopes, that even he 
will see cause to do me justice : posterity, I 
am sure, will. Mean while I comfort myself 
with the reflection, that this has been the fate 
of the best and bravest men ; even of the 
Barons who obtained Magna Charta, whilst 
the dispute was depending. — This, {a reconcil- 
iation with his king) however anxiously I wish 
for it, is not mine to command. I see my 
duty, that of standing up for the liberties of 
my country; and whatever difiiculties and dis- 
couragements lie in my way, I dare not shrink 



42 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

from it : — and I rely on that Being, who has left 
to us the choice of duties, that, whilst I con- 
scientiously discharge mine, I shall not lose my 
reward. If I really am not A BAD MAN, I 
shall not long be so SET DOWN.' 

[This "Character of General Washington" appears in 
"The English Magazine; or, Monthly Kegister of the Civil 
and Military Transactions, Politics, Literature, Arts, Man- 
ners, and Amusements of the Times," for August, 1777. 
The material for the sketch was drawn from a series of letters 
published at London in June of that year, under the title of 
" Letters from General Washington to several of his Priends 
in the year 1776, in which are set forth a fairer and fuller 
view of American Politics, than ever yet transpired or the 
Public could be made acquainted with through any other 
channel," none of which, however, were written by Wash- 
ington. 

These Spurious Letters, purporting to have been written in 
the months of June and July, 1776, were seven in number, 
five addressed to Lund AVashington, manager of the Mount 
Vernon estate, one to Mrs. Washington, and one to John 
Parke Custis, her son ; the " first draughts, or foul copies," 
of which were said to have been found in a small port- 
manteau, taken from a servant of the General, at Fort Lee, 
in November, 1776. 

These letters were reprinted at New York in 1778, at 
Philadelphia in 1795, and at London and New York, with 
other letters, in 1796, with the title: " Epistles, domestic, 



ANONYMOUS. 43 

confidential, and official from General Washington, etc." 
The appearance of the latter publication called out a letter 
from Washington (March 3, 1797) to Timothy Pickering, 
Secretary of State, in which he declared them to be base 
forgeries, and that he had never seen or heard of them until 
they appeared in print. 

Independent of this assertion, and apart from the evidence 
of the letters themselves, their spurious character is fully 
revealed by an examination of that purporting to have been 
written to Mrs. Washington, under date of June 24, 1776. 
In this letter Washington advises his wife to leave Mount 
Vernon for Philadelphia, in order to undergo inoculation for 
the small-pox ; whereas, the real state of the case was, that 
Mrs. Washington had already been inoculated at Philadel- 
phia, in the latter part of May, and at the time was with the 
Commander-in-Chief at headquarters in New York, where 
she remained until June 30. 

An interesting note concerning these letters, and ascribing 
the authorship to "John Kandolph the last royal attorney 
general of Virginia, and long the ablest lawyer in the 
colony, who went to England in 1775," will be found in vol. 
iv., p. 132, of the " Writings of George Washington," edited 
by Worthington C. Ford. A reprint of the letters, with an 
extended bibliographical note by Mr, Ford, was published in 
1889.— W. S. B.] 



AN OLD SOLDIER. 
1778. 



AN OLD SOLDIER. 
1778. 

PARTICULARS OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 
OF GENERAL WASHINGTON. 

Mr. George "Washington was the second son 
of a planter in Virginia, whose situation and 
circumstances in life were such as might have 
ranked him with that respectable class of men 
here called the Yeomanry. His mother is still 
living, and so are three brothers and one sister, 
all married and decently settled in their native 
colony as planters. By the death of his elder 
brother, Mr. Laurence Washington, who was a 
Captain in the American troops raised for the 
expedition against Carthagena, and afterwards 
incorporated with the regulars, he succeeded to 
the paternal estate. A late celebrated patriot 
said in Parliament, that Mr. Washington was 
an independent gentleman of 5000 1. per annum, 
clear estate. Many such things are said. It is 
not usual, however, in that country, to estimate 
mens fortunes by their annual incomes ; in fact, 

47 



48 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

owing to many circumstances not necessary here 
to recite, it is hardly possible this should be done 
with any precision. His estate, even under his 
excellent management, never was, one year with 
another, worth 500 1. per annum. There are a 
hundred men in Virginia, who have better es- 
tates than Mr. "Washington ; nay, five hundred. 
At his first setting out in life, and before the 
death of his brother, he was Surveyor of the 
county of Orange; an appointment attended 
with a good deal of duty, and but little profit. 
I should imagine it might then (for then it was 
almost a frontier county, and of course there 
was more surveying to do) bring him in three 
or fourscore pounds a year. Having been used 
to the woods, and being a youth of great so- 
briety, diligence, and fidelity, on the first en- 
croachments of the French previous to the last 
war, he was appointed, by the Assembly of Vir- 
ginia, to go out to enquire into, and make a 
report of, the true state of the complaints. He 
published his journal, which did credit to his 
character for care and industry. His appoint- 
ment soon after to the command of one of the 
Provincial regiments, and his very decent con- 



AN OLD SOLDIER. 49 

duct in that command, are facts of sufficient 
notoriety. One circumstance, perhaps not so 
generally known, may be mentioned. The very 
first engagement in which he was ever con- 
cerned, was against his own countrymen. He 
unexpectedly fell in, in the woods, with a party 
of the other Virginia regiment in the night, 
and fifty men were killed before the mistake 
was found out. The blame was laid (and pos- 
sibly with great justness) on the darkness of 
the night. It is remarkable, however, that the 
same misfortune befel him in his last action at 
German-Town; the blame was then also laid 
on a darkness occasioned by a thick fog. 

Before the war was over Mr. Washington re- 
signed, urged thereto by his lady, a widow of 
Mr. Custis, whom he then married, and which 
certainly was an advantageous match. 

It is not to be denied, that he was not then 
much liked in the army; but it is not less true 
that no very good reasons were ever given for 
his being disliked. I attributed it (and I hope 
I may be allowed to have some pretensions to 
judge of it, having served with him in that very 
campaign) to his being a tolerably strict disci- 



50 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

plinarian; a system which ill suited with the 
impatient spirits of his headstrong countrymen, 
who are but little used to restraint. Method 
and exactness are the fort of his character ; he 
gave a very strong proof of this in this very 
service. 

He is not a generous, but a just man; and 
having, from some idea of propriety, made it a 
point neither to gain nor lose as an individual 
in the war, he kept to his purpose, and left the 
service without either owing a shilling, or being 
a shilling richer for it. 

After his resignation he lived entirely as a 
country gentleman, distinguished chiefly by his 
skill and industry in improvements in agricul- 
ture. He was a member of the House of Bur- 
gesses ; respectable but not shining. 

At the time of the stamp-act, and during the 
commencement of the present troubles, he took 
such a part only as most of his compeers did ; 
save only, that being more industrious, and prob- 
ably less violent, than most of them, he carried 
the scheme of manufacturing to a greater height 
than almost any other man. 

When it was determined by some restless men 



AN OLD SOLDIER. 5^ 

in the northern colonies to raise an army, they 
soon foresaw that it would be impossible to eflect 
this without the concurrence of their southern 
fellow-colonies ; they fixed their eyes, in partic- 
ular, on Virginia, which having long been called 
his Majesty's ancient dominion, the people, natu- 
rally ostentatious, were proud to be considered 
as taking the lead. They were artfully indulged 
and humoured in this pardonable instance of 
human vanity. Mr. Randolph, a Virginian, was 
made President of the Congress, and Mr. Wash- 
ington, Commander in Chief; both of them very 
honest and well-meaning men. Their honesty 
betrayed them ; for it is an undoubted fact, that 
they would never have accepted of those posts, it 
they had not entertained the just and strongest 
suspicions of the unwarrantable views of their 
northern brethren. Alas! they considered not 
how difiicult, and even impossible it would be 
for them, after having once passed the strait 
line of rectitude, to stop short of the utmost 
wrong. Their seducers were systematic; and 
having now prevailed on them, in one great in- 
stance, to fly in the face of Government, they 
knew their game too well not to manage so as 

4 



52 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

to cut ofl' all hopes of a retreat. Things were 
pushed to so desperate an extremity, that safety 
was now to be found only in going on ; the re- 
linquishment of independency, circumstanced as 
affairs then were, and were contrived to be, 
would certainly have been to have relinquished 
also the first ground of the quarrel, the right 
of taxation. 

All this may appear paradoxical, but it is nev- 
ertheless perfectly consistent with the genuine 
workings of human nature, and these Americans 
are not singular in having acted the part I am 
describing. It is an undoubted fact, that Wash- 
ington and Randolph (who then acted in con- 
cert, and who then also greatly influenced the 
Colony of Virginia, and, of course, the whole 
Continent) were, at the time I am speaking of, 
as adverse to independency as (for I would ex- 
press myself strongly) the heads of the northern 
faction were bent upon it. 

But is not his judgment hereby called in ques- 
tion ? If independency be now just and advan- 
tageous to his country, it must always have been 
so, and, of course, always his duty to have pro- 
moted it. 



AN OLD SOLDIER. 53 

Placed at the head of an army and country, 
which, at least, were great and glorious in the 
American accounts of them, it is not to be won- 
dered at that Mr. Washington soon began to feel 
his consequence. His ruling passion is military 
fame. E'ature has certainly given him some mili- 
tary talents, yet it is more than probable he never 
will be a great soldier. There are insuperable 
impediments in his way. He is but of slow 
parts, and these are totally unassisted by any 
kind of education. Now, though such a char- 
acter may acquit itself with some sort of eclat, 
in the poor, pitiful, unsoldier-like war in which 
he has hitherto been employed, it is romantic 
to suppose he must not fail, if ever it should be 
his lot to be opposed by real military skill. He 
never saw any actual service, but the unfortunate 
action of Braddock. He never read a book in 
the art of war of higher value than Bland's Ex- 
ercises ; and it has already been noted, that he 
is by no means of bright or shining parts. If, 
then, military knowledge be not unlike all other; 
or, if it be not totally useless as to all the pur- 
poses of actual war, it is impossible that ever 
Mr. Washington should be a great soldier. In 



54 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

fact, by the mere dint and bravery of our army 
alone lie has been beaten whenever he has en- 
gaged ; and that this is left to befal him again, 
is a problem which, I believe, most military men 
are utterly at a loss to solve. 

It should not be denied, however, that, all 
things considered, he really has performed won- 
ders. That he is alive to command an army, 
or that an army is left him to command, might 
be sufficient to ensure him the reputation of a 
great General, if British Generals any longer 
were what British Generals used to be. In 
short, I am of the opinion of the Marquis de 
la Fayette, that any other General in the world 
than General Howe would have beaten General 
Washington ; and any other General in the world 
than General "Washington, would have beaten 
General Howe. 

[These " Particulars of the Life and Character of General 
Washington" appear in the Gentlemmi's Magazine for Au- 
gust, 1778, extracted from a letter in Lloyd^s Evenmg Post 
of August 17, signed An Old Soldier. The same sketch 
with some slight additional matter was also published the 
same year in the August number of the Westminster Maga- 
zine. The introduction to the latter reprint runs thus : " The 
following historical sketch of the Life of General Wash- 



AN OLD SOLDIER. 55 

ington, is written with such apparent Authenticity and Can- 
dour, by one who seems to have an intimate knowledge of 
his subject, that we presume it will be entertaining and in- 
structive to most of our Eeaders ; we could not therefore 
withhold from them such a curious Description of a Person 
who makes a distinguished Figure in the political System of 
the Globe, and is like to hold the same Bank in future 
Kecords of Historians."— W. S. B.] 



ANONYMOUS. 
1779. 



ANONYMOUS. 
1779. 

General Washington, altho' advanced in 
years, is remarkably healthy, takes a great deal 
of exercise, and is very fond of riding on a favor- 
ite white horse; he is very reserved, and loves 
retirement. When out of camp he has only a 
single servant attending him, and when he re- 
turns within the lines a few of the light horse 
escort him to his tent. When he has any great 
object in view he sends for a few of the officers 
of whose abilities he has a high opinion, and 
states his present plan among half a dozen others, 
to all which they give their separate judgments : 
by these means he gets all their opinions, with- 
out divulging his intentions. He has no tincture 
of pride, and will often converse with a centinel 
with more freedom than he would with a general 
officer. He is very shy and reserved to foreign- 
ers, altho' they have letters of recommendation, 
from the Congress. He punishes neglect of duty 

59 



60 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

with great severity, but is very tender and indul- 
gent to recruits until they learn the articles of 
war and their exercise perfectly. He has a great 
antipathy to spies, although he employs them 
himself, and has an utter aversion to all Indians. 
He regularly attends divine service in his tent 
every morning and evening, and seems very fer- 
vent in his prayers. He is so tender-hearted, 
that no soldiers must be flogged nigh his tent, 
or if he is walking in the camp, and sees a man 
tied to the halberds, he will either order him to 
be taken down, or walk another way to avoid 
the sight. He has made the art of war his par- 
ticular study ; his plans are in general good and 
well digested; he is particularly careful always 
of securing a retreat, but his chief qualifications 
are steadiness, perseverance, and secrecy; any 
act of bravery he is sure to reward, and make a 
short eulogium on the occasion to the person and 
his fellow soldiers (if it be a soldier) in the ranks. 
He is humane to the prisoners who fall into his 
hands, and orders every thing necessary for their 
relief He is very temperate in his diet, and the 
only luxury he indulges himself in, is a few 
glasses of punch after supper. 



ANONYMOUS. Ql 

[This sketch, entitled "Character of General Washington, 
by an American Gentleman now in London, who is well 
acquainted with him," appears in vol. xlvi., p. 288, of the 
London Chronicle for the year 1779, September 21-23. Al- 
though, properly speaking, not a biographical sketch, it, how- 
ever, possesses sufficient interest in this connection to be 
included in the present volume. — W. S. B.] 



JOHN BELL. 
1779. 



JOHN BELL. 
1779. 

A SKETCH OF MR. WASHINGTON'S LIFE AND 
CHARACTER. 

General Washington is the third son of Mr. 
Augustine Washington, a man of large property 
and distinguished reputation in the state of Vir- 
ginia : an ancestor of this gentleman, about the 
period of the Revolution, sold his property, near 
Cave, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and 
came over to Virginia, where he purchased lands 
in King George's County ; and it was here that 
our hero was born on the 22d of February in 
the year 1733. In this county he has at this 
time three brothers, Samuel, John, and Charles, 
all gentlemen of considerable landed property, 
and a sister who is married to colonel Fielding 
Lewis. His elder brother Lawrence, who went 
out a captain of the American troops, raised for 
the Carthagena expedition, married the daughter 
of the honourable William Fairfax of Belvoir, 
in Virginia, by whom he left one daughter, who 
dying young, and his second brother also dying 

66 



QQ GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

witliout issue, the general succeeded to the 
family-seat, which, in compliment to the gallant 
admiral of that name, is called Mount Vernon, 
and is delightfully situated on the Potomack 
Eiver, a few miles below Alexandria. General 
"Washington is the eldest son by a second mar- 
riage ; and, having never been out of America, 
was educated (as youths of fortune in this 
country generally are) under the eye of his 
father by private tutorage: a slight tincture of 
the Latin language, a grammatical knowledge 
of his mother-tongue, and the elements of the 
mathematics, were the chief objects he was 
taught to pursue. For a few years after he 
quitted his tutor, he applied himself to the prac- 
tical part of surveying (a knowledge of which 
is essentially requisite to men of landed prop- 
erty in this country) and was appointed surveyor 
to a certain district in Virginia; an employ- 
ment rather creditable than lucrative ; though it 
afforded him an opportunity of chusing some 
valuable tracts of land, and made him thor- 
oughly acquainted with the frontier country. 

On the governor and council of Virginia re- 
ceiving orders from England, in October 1753, 



JOHN BELL. giT 

to repel by force the encroachments of the 
French on the western frontiers, along the 
rivers Ohio and de Boeuf, Mr. Washington, 
then a major in the provincial service, and an 
adjutant-general of their forces, was dispatched 
by general Dinwiddle, with a letter to the com- 
mander in chief of the French on the Ohio, 
complaining of the inroads they were making 
in direct violation of the treaties then subsisting 
between the two crowns; he had also instruc- 
tions to treat mth the six nations and other 
western tribes of Indians, and to engage them 
to continue firm in their attachment to England. 
He set out on this perilous embassy, with about 
fifteen attendants, late in October 1753; and so 
far succeeded, that on his return with monsieur 
de St. Pierre's answer, and his good success in 
the Indian negociations, he was complimented 
with the thanks and approbation of his country. 
His journal of this whole transaction was pub- 
lished in Virginia, and does great credit to his 
industry, attention, and judgment; and it has 
since proved of infinite service to those who 
have been doomed to traverse the same inhos- 
pitable tracts. 

6 



68 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Soon after this, the designs of the French 
becoming more manifest, and their movements 
and conduct more daring, orders were issued 
out by administration for the colonies to arm 
and unite in one confederacy. The assembly of 
Virginia took the lead by voting a sum of 
money for the public service, and raising a regi- 
ment of four hundred men for the protection 
of the frontiers of the colony. Major "Washing- 
ton, then about twenty-three years of age, was 
appointed to the command of this regiment, and 
before the end of May, in the ensuing year, 
came up with a strong party of the French and 
Indians, at a place called Redstone, which he 
effectually routed after having taken and killed 
fifty men. Among the prisoners were the cele- 
brated woods-man monsieur De La Force and 
two other officers, from whom colonel Washing- 
ton had undoubted intelligence, that the French 
force on the Ohio consisted of upwards of one 
thousand regulars, and some hundreds of In- 
dians. Upon this intelligence, although his little 
army was somewhat reduced, and intirely insuf- 
ficient to act offensively against the French and 
Indians, yet he pushed on towards his enemy 



JOHN BELL. 



69 



to a good post; where, in order to wait the 
arrival of some expected succour from New 
York and Pennsylvania, he entrenched himself, 
and built a small fort called Fort N'ecessity. At 
this point he remained unmolested, and without 
any succour until the July following ; when his 
small force, reduced now to less than three hun- 
dred men, was attacked by an army of French 
and Indians of eleven hundred and upwards, 
under the command of the Sieur de Villiers. 
The Virginians sustained the attack of the 
enemy's whole force for several hours, and laid 
near two hundred of them dead in the field, 
when the French commander, discouraged by 
such determined resolution, proposed the less 
dangerous method of dislodging his enemy by 
a parley, which ended in an honourable capitu- 
lation. It was stipulated that colonel Washing- 
ton should march away with all the honours of 
war, and be allowed to carry ofl^" all his military 
stores, effects, and baggage. This capitulation 
was violated from the ungovernable disposition 
of the savages, whom the French commander 
could not restrain from plundering the pro- 
vincials on the onset of their march, and from 



70 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

making a considerable slaughter of men, cattle, 
and horses. This breach of the capitulation 
was strongly remonstrated against by the British 
ambassador at the Court of Versailles, and may 
be looked upon as the 93ra when the French 
court began to unmask, and to avow (though 
in a clandestine manner) the conduct of their 
governors and officers in America : they re- 
doubled their activity and diligence on the 
Ohio, and in other places during the winter 
1754, and the following spring. Virginia had 
determined to send out a larger force ; the forts 
Cumberland and Loudon were built, and a camp 
was formed at Wills Creek, from thence to an- 
noy the enemy on the Ohio. In these several 
services (particularly in the construction of the 
forts) colonel Washington was principally em- 
ployed, when he was summoned to attend gen- 
eral Braddock, who with his army arrived at 
Alexandria, in Virginia, in May 1755. The 
design of sending out that army, was to pene- 
trate through the country to Fort Du Quesne 
(now Fort Pitt) by the route of Wills Creek; 
and as no person was better acquainted with the 
frontier country than colonel Washington, and 



JOHN BELL. 71 

no one in the colony enjoyed so well established 
a military character, he was judged highly ser- 
viceable to general Braddock, and cheerfully 
quitted his command to act as a volunteer and 
aid du camp under that unfortunate general. 
The particulars of the defeat, and almost total 
ruin of Braddock's army, consisting of two 
thousand regular British forces, and near eight 
hundred provincials, are too well known to need 
a repetition : it is allowed on all sides, that the 
haughty positive behaviour of the general, his 
high contempt of the provincial officers and sol- 
diers, and his disdainful obstinacy in rejecting 
their advice, were the genuine causes of this 
fatal disaster. "With what resolution and steadi- 
ness the provincials and their gallant com- 
mander behaved on this trying occasion, and in 
covering the confused retreat of the army,* let 
every British officer and soldier confess, who 
were rescued from slaughter on that calamitous 
day by their valour and conduct. 
After general Braddock's disaster, the colony 

* See captain Orme's letter to governor Dinwiddie, and 
also the other accounts of that day. 



72 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

of Virginia found it necessary to establish her 
mihtia, raise more men, strengthen her forts, 
undertake expeditions to check the inroads of 
the enemy, &c. &c. &c. In all which important 
services colonel Washington bore a principal 
share, and acquitted himself to the utmost satis- 
faction of his country, by displaying, on every 
occasion, the most persevering industry, per- 
sonal courage, and military abilities. He was 
again appointed to the command of the Virginia 
troops, and held it with signal credit till his 
resignation in 1759, when he married the young 
widow of Mr. Custis, his present lady; with 
whom he had a fortune of twenty thousand 
pounds sterling in her own right, besides her 
dower in one of the principal estates in Virginia. 
From this period he became as assiduous to serve 
the state as a senator, as he had hitherto been 
active to defend it as a soldier. For several 
years he represented Frederick County, and had 
a seat for Fairfax County; at the time he was 
appointed by the assembly, in conformity with 
the universal wish of the people, to be one of 
their four delegates at the first general congress. 
It was with no small reluctance that he engaged 



JOHN BELL. 



73 



again in the active scenes of life ; and I sincerely 
believe that no motives but such as spring from 
a most disinterested patriotism could have ever 
prevailed upon him to relinquish the most re- 
fined domestic pleasures, which it was ever in 
his power to command, and the great delight he 
took in farming and the improvement of his 
estate. You well know that general Washington 
is, perhaps, the greatest landholder in America 
(the proprietors of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and 
the ISTorthern Neck excepted) ; for besides his 
lady's fortune, and ten thousand pounds falling 
to him by the death of her only daughter, he 
has large tracts of land taken up by himself 
early in life, some considerable purchases made 
from oflacers who had lands allotted them for 
their services ; and has, moreover, made great 
additions to his estate at Mount Vernon. It 
is impossible in this country, as in England, to 
rate the value of estates by their annual rent 
or income, because they are universally tilled 
by negroes, and in the hands of landholders. 
There are many estates in the middle colonies, 
which never produced a clear income to their 
owners of five hundred a year, that may be 



74 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

easily sold for forty thousand pounds. General 
Washington's, however, will not be over-rated, 
if set down at a good four thousand pounds 
English per annum, and his whole property 
could not be bought for forty years purchase. 

When it was determined at length in Con- 
gress, after every step towards an accommoda- 
tion had failed, and every petition from America 
had been scornfully rejected, to repel by force 
the invasion from Great Britain, the eyes of the 
whole Continent were immediately turned upon 
Mr. Washington. With one common voice he 
was called forth to the defence of his country ; 
and it is, perhaps, his peculiar glory, that there 
was not a single inhabitant of these states, ex- 
cept himself, who did not approve the choice, 
and place the firmest confidence in his integrity 
and abilities.* He arrived at Cambridge in !N"ew 
England, in July, 1775, and there took the 
supreme command of the armies of America. 
He was received at the camp with that heart- 
felt exultation which superior merit can alone 

* It is somewliat singular, that even in England not one 
reflection was ever cast, or the least disrespectful word uttered 
against him. 



JOHN BELL. 175 

inspire, after having in his progress through the 
several states received every mark of affection 
and esteem, which they conceived were due to 
the man, whom the whole continent looked up 
to for safety and freedom. 

As he always refused to accept of any pecuni- 
ary appointment for his public services, no salary 
has been annexed by Congress to his important 
command, and he only draws weekly for the 
exiDcnces of his public table and other necessary 
demands. General Washington having never 
been in Europe, could not possibly have seen 
much military service when the armies of Britain 
were sent to subdue us ; yet still, for a variety of 
reasons, he was by much the most proper man 
on this continent, and probably any where else, 
to be placed at the head of an American army. 
The very high estimation he stood in for integ- 
rity and honour, his engaging in the cause of his 
country from sentiment and a conviction of her 
wrongs, his moderation in politics, his extensive 
property, and his approved abilities as a com- 
mander, were motives which necessarily obliged 
the choice of America to fall upon him. That 
nature has given him extraordinary military tal- 



76 • GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

ents will hardly be controverted by his most 
bitter enemies ; and having been early actuated 
with a warm passion to serve his country in the 
military line, he has greatly improved them by 
unwearied industry, and a close application to 
the best writers upon tactics, and by a more than 
common method and exactness : and, in reality, 
when it comes to be considered that at first he 
only headed a body of men intirely unacquainted 
with military discipline or operations, somewhat 
ungovernable in temper, and who at best could 
only be stiled an alert and good militia, acting 
under very short enlistments, uncloathed, unac- 
coutred, and at all times very ill supplied with 
ammunition and artillery ; and that with such an 
army he withstood the ravages and progress of 
near forty thousand veteran troops, plentifully 
provided with every necessary article, com- 
manded by the bravest officers in Europe, and 
supported by a very powerful navy, which effect- 
ually prevented all movements by water ; when, 
I say, all this comes to be impartially considered, 
I think I may venture to pronounce, that general 
Washington will be regarded by mankind as one 
of the greatest military ornaments of the present 



JOEN BELL. yy 

age, and that his name will command the vener- 
ation of the latest posterity. 

I would not mention to you the person of this 
excellent man, were I not convinced that it bears 
great analogy to the qualifications of his mind. 
General Washington is now in the forty-seventh 
year of his age; he is a tall well-made man, 
rather large boned, and has a tolerably genteel 
address: his features are manly and bold, his 
eyes of a blueish cast and very lively ; his hair 
a deep brown, his face rather long and marked 
with the small pox; his complexion sun-burnt 
and without much colour, and his countenance 
sensible, composed, and thoughtful; there is a 
remarkable air of dignity about him, with a 
striking degree of gracefulness : he has an excel- 
lent understanding without much quickness; is 
strictly just, vigilant, and generous ; an affec- 
tionate husband, a faithful friend, a father to 
the deserving soldier ; gentle in his manners, in 
temper rather reserved; a total stranger to re- 
ligious prejudices, which have so often excited 
Christians of one denomination to cut the throats 
of those of another; in his morals irreproach- 
able ; he was never known to exceed the bounds 



78 QEOROE WASHINGTON. 

of the most rigid temperance ; in a word, all his 
friends and acquaintance universally allow, that 
no man ever united in his own person a more 
perfect alliance of the virtues of a philosopher 
with the talents of a general. Candour, sin- 
cerity, affability, and simplicity, seem to be the 
striking features of his character, till an occasion 
offers of displajdng the most determined bravery 
and independence of spirit. 

Such, my good friend, is the man, to whom 
America has intrusted her important cause. 
Hitherto she has had every reason to be satisfied 
with her choice ; and most ungrateful would she 
be to the great Disposer of human events, were 
she not to render him unremitting thanks for 
having provided her with such a citizen at such 
a crisis. Most nations have been favoured with 
some patriotic deliverer : the Israelites had their 
Moses ; Rome had her Camillus ; Greece her 
Leonidas; Sweden her Gustavus; and England 
her Hambdens, her Russels, and her Sydneys : 
but these illustrious heroes, though successful in 
preserving and defending, did not, like "Wash- 
ington, form or establish empires, which will be 
the refuge or asylum of Liberty banished from 



JOHN BELL. 79 

Europe by luxury and corruption. Must not, 
therefore, your heart beat with conscious pride 
at the prospect of your Mend's being ranked 
among (if not above) those iUustrious patriots? 
at the enchanting thought, that He, whom you 
know and love, shall be acknowledged by present 
and future generations as their great deliverer, 
and the chief instrument in the hands of the 
Almighty for laying the foundation of that free- 
dom and happiness, which, I trust, await the 
future myriads of this vast continent ? 

[This "Sketch of Mr. Washington's Life and Character" 
forms the contents of a letter, from " a gentleman of Mary- 
land," to a friend in Europe, dated May 3, 1779, which was 
published at London the following year, annexed to " A 
Poetical Epistle to His Excellency George Washington, Esq., 
Commander in Chief of the Armies of the United States of 
America, from an Inhabitant of the State of Maryland." 
The author of the Epistle was Charles Henry Wharton, 
D.D., at the time a resident of Worcester, England, and the 
publication was "for the charitable purpose of raising a few 
guineas to relieve, in a small measure, the distresses of some 
hundreds of American prisoners, now suffering confinement 
in the gaols of England." Of the author of this sketch we 
have no information other than the statement in the preface 
to the Ejnstle to Washington, that he was " connected and 
intimate in the family of that great man." 



80 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

The sketch was reprinted in the Westminster Magazine 
for August, 1780 ; in the New Annual Register for the same 
year ; in the Pennsylvania Gazette, Philadelphia, November 
28, 1781; in connection with the Epistle, at Providence, 
E. I., in 1781, and at Springfield, Mass., in 1782; in the 
Westminster Magazine, January, 1784, where the name of 
the author, John Bell, first appears; in the Massachusetts 
Magazine, March, 1791 ; and at New York, in connection 
with the Epistle, in 1865. The following lines are quoted 
from the Epistle.— W. S. B.] 

" Great without pomp, without ambition brave. 
Proud, not to conquer fellow-men, but save : 
Friend to the weak, a foe to none, but those 
Who plan their greatness on their brethren's woes ; 
Aw'd by no titles, undefil'd by lust ; 
Free without faction, obstinately just ; 
Too wise to learn from Machiavel's false school. 
That truth and perfidy by turns should rule ; 
Too rough for flatt'ry, dreading ev'n as death 
The baneful influence of Corruption's breath ; 
Warm'd by Religion's sacred genuine ray. 
That points to future bliss th' unerring way ; 
Yet ne'er controul'd by Superstition's laws, 
That worst of tyrants in the noblest cause." 



ANONYMOUS. 
1780. 



ANONYMOUS. 
1780. 

Geo. Washington, Esq. The family from 
which this gentleman is descended, was orig- 
inally in Lancashire, but afterwards removed 
to the city of Coventry where he was born, 
on the 3d of Sept. 1727. His mother was of 
the same family with General Monk, who, for 
his services at the Restoration, was created 
Duke of Albemarle. 

Mr. "Washington discovered an early inclina- 
tion to arms, and first entered as a private man, 
in general Wade's regiment, in the year 1746, 
being then not twenty-one, and soon after he 
bought a cornet's commission in the same regi- 
ment, and served against the Scotch rebels. He 
continued in the service till the peace, when he 
went abroad to improve himself in the military 
profession. 

When the French war broke out in Amer- 
ica, in the year 1755, Mr. Washington went 
over to that country, where his courage and 

6 83 



84 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

military abilities being known, lie was raised 
to the rank of Major in the provincial forces, 
and was at Fort Edward, under the command of 
General Webb, when Mons. Montcalm advanced, 
to take Fort William Henry, on Lake George. 

Major Washington having heard of the in- 
tended attack, and being apprehensive that 
lieutenant colonel Monro, who then com- 
manded at Fort William Henry, would not 
be strong enough to resist the French, eagerly 
interceded with his General to be sent with 
his forces to the assistance of Monro. But 
his ardour was restrained; and the unfor- 
tunate commander forced to make the best 
terms he could with the French general, who 
afterwards, in violation of the treaty that had 
been made, permitted the Indian savages to 
fall upon them, and strip them of everything 
of value. 

The Americans soon afterwards raised Major 
Washington to the command of a regiment, in 
which rank he remained till the peace, when he 
retired to the cultivation and improvement of 
a very considerable estate he possessed in the 
province of Virginia. 



ANONYMOUS. 85 

When the present troubles in America arose 
on account of the famous Tea Act, colonel 
Washington was one of the foremost in ex- 
pressing his detestation in imposing a tax on 
people who were not represented; and when 
a General Congress was thought necessary to 
be convened, he was chosen one of the dele- 
gates for the province of Virginia, and in that 
capacity signed the association on Oct. 20th, 
1774, and the other subsequent publications 
of that body. The Continental Congress ap- 
pointed General Washington to the supreme 
command of their armies to which commission 
was addressed : — ' To our beloved brother , George 
Washington, Esq.; Ca2Jtai7i General and Com- 
mander in chief of all the Forces of the United 
Colonies.' The Congress annexed a very con- 
siderable salary to this important post, which 
he nobly refused to accept, declaring he would 
not take wages for his services in the Cause of 
Freedom, but desired only a reimbursement of 
the necessary expences. 

[This brief but singularly inaccurate sketch, which may 
well be termed a literary curiosity, appears in a volume pub- 
lished at London in 1780, entitled "An Impartial History 



86 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

of the War in America, between Great Britain and her 
Colonies, from its Commencement to the end of the year 
1779." It is introduced as a note to a reference in the 
text, page 221, of the appointment of "Geo. Washington, 
Esq., a gentleman of affluent fortune in Virginia, and who 
had acquired considerable military experience in the com- 
mand of different bodies of the provincials during the last 
war, to be general and commander in chief of all the 
American forces." The statements that Washington was 
born at Coventry, and that his mother was of the same 
family with General Monk, seem to have been taken from 
the sketch published in the London Chronicle for the year 
1775, referred to in the note on page 20. — W. S. B.] 



JOHN F. D. SMYTH. 
1784. 



JOHN F. D. SMYTH. 
1784. 

General Washington is descended from a 
family of good repute, in the middle rank of 
life, now residing in the settlement of Chotauk, 
every individual planter throughout this numer- 
ous and extensive settlement being actually re- 
lated to him by blood. 

He received a common, but by no means lib- 
eral education, and made the principal part of 
his fortune by marriage, although he has no 
children to inherit it. Mrs. Washington is of 
a family named Dandridge, some of whom for- 
merly were officers in the royal navy, and was 
the widow of Colonel Custos, who possessed an 
immense fortune for Virginia, and having two 
children by her left her his sole executrix as well 
as guardian to his children. 

By this marriage Mr. Washington obtained 
possession of the whole of Custos's large estates. 
Being remarkable for geconomy, industry, and 

89 



90 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

good management, he soon acquired a fortune 
for himself nearly equal to that of Gustos. 

And, in the former war having been an officer 
in the Virginia regiment, the command of which 
at length devolved on him, being sensible, cool, 
and very popular the command of the American 
Army was offered to him for two reasons ; first, 
because he was the only public man then known, 
either calculated to command, or proper to be 
entrusted therewith; and the next reason was, 
because thereby they secured the attachment of 
the whole colony of Virginia, the most exten- 
sive, the richest, and the most powerful of all 
the provinces. 

Mr. "Washington has uniformly cherished, and 
steadfastly pursued, an apparently mild, steady, 
but aspiring line of conduct, and views of the 
highest ambition, under the most specious and 
effectual of all cloaks, that of moderation, which 
he has invariably appeared to profess. This has 
been evinced by a multitude of instances, but 
particularly by his accepting the continuance of 
the chief command of the American army, after 
the Congress had suddenly declared for Inde- 
pendence, of which measure he always before 



JOHN F. D. SMYTH. 9 J 

affected to disapprove, and on that account pre- 
tended to be inclined to resign the command, an 
intention, of all others, the most distant from 
his mind. 

His total want of generous sentiments, and 
even of common humanity, has appeared notori- 
ously in many instances, and in none more than 
his sacrifice of the meritorious, but unfortunate 
Major Andre. 

As a General, he is equally liable to censure, 
which is well known to every intelligent Freyich- 
man who has been in America, as well as to 
every person whatsoever who has had any oppor- 
tunity of observing his military operations : nor 
during his life has he ever performed a single 
action that could entitle him to the least share of 
merit or praise, much less of glory. But as a 
politician he has certainly distinguished himself; 
having by his political manoeuvres, and his cau- 
tious plausible management, raised himself to 
a degree of eminence in his own country un- 
rivalled, and of considerable stability. 

However, in his private character, he has al- 
ways been respectable, and highly esteemed; and 
has supported a name fair and worthy. 



92 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

[John F. D. Smyth, a British soldier, settled in Maryland, 
where for several years prior to the Eevolution he engaged 
in agricultural pursuits. Having become unpopular by his 
earnest support of the British government, he went to Vir- 
ginia, and enlisted in the Queen's royal regiment of Norfolk. 
The oflBcers were seized by a company of riflemen and taken 
to Frederick, Maryland, but Smyth escaped ; he was recap- 
tured and imprisoned in Philadelphia, and afterward in Balti- 
more. Escaping again, he secured passage on a British vessel 
off Cape May, New Jersey, and finally reached New York. 
On his return to England he published in 1784, " A Tour in 
the United States of America," from vol. ii., p. 148, of which 
the above notice of Washington is extracted. John Kan- 
dolph of Koanoke is quoted to have said : " This book, 
although replete with falsehood and calumny, contains the 
truest picture of the state of society and manners in Virginia 
extant."— W. S. B.] 



THOMAS JONES. 

178J. 



THOMAS JONES. 
178^. 

George Washington is a native of Virginia, 
of a reputable family, and good connections. He 
has served in the Assembly, and was afterwards 
a member of his Majesty's Council, for Virginia. 
Mount Vernon, the place of his residence, he in- 
herits as heir-at-law to a brother who served, and 
died, on board admiral Vernon's fleet, in the West 
Indies, in 1742. In 1753, Mr. Dinwiddie, then 
Governor of Virginia, sent him as an Ambassa- 
dor to the Commandant of the French forces 
then forming a settlement upon the Ohio, to let 
him know he was encroaching upon the lands of 
Great Britain, and ordering him to retire, or 
compulsory methods should be taken. Wash- 
ington was treated by the French officers with 
great hospitality, and the utmost politeness. The 
Commandant told him the Governor's Message 
should be sent to the Marquis Du Quesne, then 
Governor of Canada. That the orders of the 
Marquis would be a law to him, and he should 

95 



96 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

implicitly obey them. With this answer, Mr. 
Washington returned. The French not aban- 
doning their project of forming a settlement 
upon the Ohio, the Government of Virginia 
undertook to drive them away by force. Three 
hundred men were raised, and the command 
given to Mr. Washington, who was appointed 
a Provincial Major. This little army being 
completed they rendevouzed and encamped at 
Will's Creek, upon the frontiers of Virginia. 
A reconnoitering party, under the Major's own 
command, fell in with a party from the Ohio, 
under the sanction of a flag, bound from the 
Ohio to Virginia, on an embassy from the French 
Commander there to Governor Dinwiddle. Mon- 
sieur Jumonville was the Ambassador. He was 
to pass through a wilderness of several hundred 
miles, which many savage and barbarous nations 
inhabited. An escort was necessary not only to 
guard against any attack of the barbarians, but 
to procure provisions during the journey. This 
French gentleman, with his escort, in perfect 
security as he thought, were sitting down quietly 
eating their dinners, with the flag hoisted upon 
a pole, conspicuously flying. This party, thus 



THOMAS JONES. 



97 



situated, the Major fell in with. Without the 
least notice he ordered them fired upon. Mon- 
sieur Jumonville and several others were killed 
upon the spot, and the rest made prisoners. The 
French made horrid complaints of this act, as 
an infraction and a violation of the laws of 
nations.* The Virginians excused it under pre- 
tence that the French were armed, which is 
not customary when travelling under the sanc- 
tion of flags. But when the distance through 
the wilderness, the savage tribes living in those 
woods, and the necessity of firearms to procure 
provisions upon the route, were considered, it 
was by all moderate men condemned as an in- 
iquitous act. In August, 1754, Major Washing- 
ton marched from Will's Creek, upon his way to 
the Ohio. He crossed the Alleghany Mountains, 
and built a fort at the Little Meadows. The 
French were soon apprised of his march, and 
Monsieur De Villiers, the brother-in-law of Ju- 



* Wynne, in his history of the British Empire in America, 
speaks of this matter thus : ' Jumonville and his company 
were either killed, or made prisoners of by Washington, in 
a manner contrary to all the rules of war established among 
civilized nations.' 



98 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

mouville, was sent with a party to meet and at- 
tack him. Understanding on the way that Wash- 
ington had halted at the Little Meadows and 
built a fort, he went directly there and attacked 
the fort. The Major soon thought it necessary 
to capitulate. In one of the articles he acknowl- 
edged that he had violated the law of nations, by 
the assassination of Monsieur Jumonville, when 
under the protection of a Hag. In another he 
pledged his honour not to bear arms against 
France for twelve months. This happened in 
August, 1754. Yet, he fought under the banners 
of Braddock, upon the Monongahela, in July, 
1755. He was afterwards Commander-in-Chief 
of the American army which commission he 
held during the war. 

After the peace of 1763, he married the widow 
of a Mr. Custis, a lady of great property, and 
settled himself down quietly upon his own es- 
tate, where he lived till the late American com- 
motions commenced. He was a delegate from 
Virginia, at the first Congress, in 1774. He 
took, upon this occasion, a violent and active 
part against Great Britain. "When this Con- 
gress was dissolved he returned home, was ap- 



THOMAS JONES. qq 

pointed Chairman of the Committee of the 
county in which he resided, and enforced the 
resolutions and recommendations of Congress 
with a high hand. Some who refused obe- 
dience to the Committee, he ordered punished, 
and others he imprisoned. He even levied taxes 
upon the inhabitants, and ordered them collected 
and paid, by dint of his own power, threatening 
such as should disobey his illegal and arbitrary 
mandates with being advertised in the public 
papers as 'enemies to America and the rights 
of mankind.' A punishment of this kind, if 
not death, was certain banishment, the destruc- 
tion of property, and the ruin of families, of 
wives, and of innocent children. 

When the second Congress met at Philadel- 
phia, in May, 1775, Colonel Washington, was 
again sent as one of the delegates from Vir- 
ginia. War was now declared against Great 
Britain, an army ordered to be raised, and Wash- 
ington was commissioned by Congress as Gen- 
eral. He repaired to Boston, where the British 
army then lay, and with the assistance of a 
numerous militia completely blockaded the town. 
By this means the royal troops were so straight- 

7 



100 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

ened for fresh provisions, that General Howe, 
who then had the command, evacuated the place 
and went to Nova Scotia. "Washington, with the 
rebel army, went to ISTew York. General Howe 
also went there, in June, 1776. Upon Long 
Island, in August, the two armies met, and 
"Washington was totally defeated. He aban- 
doned Long Island, evacuated Kew York, and 
was again defeated in the upper part of that 
island. He was repulsed at the "White Plains, 
in "Westchester County, and absolutely ferreted 
through New Jersey, nor did he stop till he got 
to Philadelphia. The British not passing the 
Delaware, and going into quarters, he collected 
some troops from the southward, recrossed the 
Delaware at Trenton, the latter end of Decem- 
ber, 1776, surprised and made prisoners of about 
600 Hessians, laden with plunder, under the 
command of a drunken Colonel. He carried 
his prisoners to Philadelphia, returned to New 
Jersey, and at Princeton was defeated by Colonel 
Mawhood, upon which he precipitately retired, 
and by a forced march through the country, 
arrived at, and took possession of the mountains 
about Morristown. In September 1777, he was 



THOMAS JONES. ^QX 

totally defeated at Brandywine. In October fol- 
lowing he met with the same fate at German- 
town, and in July, 1778, he fared in the same 
manner at Monmouth, in New Jersey. After 
this, he retired to inaccessible mountains in the 
Highlands, on the west side of the Hudson, in 
the province of New York. In 1781, he passed 
the river, and a junction was formed between 
his army and the French army, under Monsieur 
Eochambeau, from Rhode Island, at the White 
Plains. The allied army now paraded about the 
lines at Kingsbridge, to the great terror of the 
British General in New York ; but nothing was 
done, a little skirmishing between small parties 
now and then excepted. In September, the allies 
passed the Hudson, went through the Jerseys, 
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and entered Virginia, 
where, being joined by a corps under the Mar- 
quis De La Fayette, the militia of the country, 
and a French army brought from the West 
Indies, by the Compte De Grasse, under the 
command of Monsieur de St. Simon, with the 
assistance of the French fleet, he laid siege to 
Yorktown and Gloucester, and in about a month 
compelled Lord Cornwallis, who commanded 



102 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

there, to capitulate upon honourable terms.* 
"Washington after this returned to the High- 
lands, in the province of New York, where he 
continued until a faction in the British Parlia- 
ment made or rather patched up, a peace upon 
the most ignominious terms, ceded thirteen colo- 
nies to the rebels, with a tract of land not in- 
cluded in any of their grants, comprehending 
more square acres than half Europe, sacrificed 
all her loyal subjects by giving away their 
estates, and recognizing the rebel Acts ot 
Attainders without a term, a condition, or a 
stipulation in favour of the poor Loyalists. 
Can Washington be called the conqueror of 
America? By no means. America was con- 
quered in the British Parliament. Washington 
never could have conquered it. British generals 
never did their duty. The friends of the rebel 
chief say he has virtues. I suppose he has ; I say, 

* At this time the situation of rebellion was such that 
Washington, in a letter to De Grasse, declares, 'that unless 
a co-operation could take place between his fleet and the 
army, everything was over, no peace to be expected, and a 
return to a dependence upon Great Britain the inevitable 
consequence.' 



THOMAS JONES. IQ^ 

'Curse on his virtues! they've undone his 
country.' 

[This sketch was written by Thomas Jones, Justice of the 
Supreme Court of the Province of New York, appointed in 
1773. Judge Jones was born in Queens County, New York, 
April 30, 1731, and in consequence of his adherence to the 
royal cause, lost his estate under the confiscation act, and was 
one of the fifty-six gentlemen and three ladies included in 
the New York Act of Attainder. Judge Jones left the United 
States in 1781, and died in England, July 25, 1792. During 
the years 1783-88, he employed his leisure hours in recording 
the events of the period, the MS. of which was preserved and 
published at New York in 1879, under the title, " History of 
New York during the Kevolutionary War," 2 vols., 8vo. 
Edited by Edward Floyd de Lancey. Included in the work 
are short sketches of several of the prominent participators 
in the Kevolution, written of course from a loyalist stand- 
point ; the Washington sketch (vol. ii., pp. 344-49) may 
have been written about the year 1785. 

The statements in the sketch that Washington acknowl- 
edged a violation of the law of nations in the de Jumonville 
affair, and that he broke one of the articles of capitulation 
of Fort Necessity (July 3, 1754), by bearing arms before the 
expiration of the time agreed upon, were doubtless made by 
Judge Jones from the French version of the matter. Jared 
Sparks, in an exhaustive paper on the subject {Wriii7igs of 
Washington, vol. ii., pp. 447-468), has given the true history 
of these occurrences. — W. S. B.] 



JEDIDIAH MORSE. 
1789. 



JEDIDIAH MORSE. 
1789. 

Notwithstanding it has often been asserted 
with confidence, that General Washington was a 
native of England, certain it is his ancestors came 
from thence to this country so long ago as the 
year 1657. He, in the third descent after their 
migration, was born on the 11th of February, 
(old style) 1732, at the parish of Washington, in 
Westmoreland county, in Virginia. His father's 
family was numerous, and he was the first fruit 
of a second marriage. His education having 
been principally conducted by a private tutor, at 
fifteen years old he was entered a midshipman 
on board of a British vessel of war stationed 
on the coast of Virginia, and his baggage pre- 
pared for embarkation : but the plan was aban- 
doned on account of the reluctance his mother 
expressed to his engaging in that profession. 

Previous to this transaction, when he was 
but ten years of age, his father died, and the 
charge of the family devolved on his eldest 

107 



108 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

brother. His eldest brother, a young man of 
the most promising talents, had a command in 
the colonial troops employed against Carthagena, 
and on his return from the expedition, named 
his new patrimonial mansion Mount Vernon, 
in honour of the admiral of that name, from 
whom he had received many civilities. He was 
afterwards made Adjutant General of the militia 
of Virginia, but did not long survive. At his 
decease (notwithstanding there are heirs of an 
elder branch who possess a large moiety of the 
paternal inheritance) the eldest son by the second 
marriage, inherited this seat and a considerable 
landed property. In consequence of the exten- 
sive limits of the colony, the vacant office of Ad- 
jutant General was divided into three districts, 
and the future Hero of America, before he attained 
his twentieth year, began his military service by 
a principal appointment in that department, with 
the rank of major. 

When he was little more than twenty one 
years of age, an event occurred which called his 
abilities into public notice. In 1753, while the 
government of the colony was administered by 
lieutenant governor Dinwiddle, encroachments 



JEDIDIAH MORSE. 109 

were reported to have been made by the French, 
from Canada, on the territories of the British 
colonies, at the westward. Young Mr. "Wash- 
ington, who was sent with plenary powers to 
ascertain the facts, treat with the savages and 
warn the French to desist from their aggressions, 
performed the duties of his mission, with singu- 
lar industry, intelligence and address. His jour- 
nal, and report to governor Dinwiddle, which 
were published, announced to the world that 
correctness of mind, manliness in style and ac- 
curacy in the mode of doing business, which 
have since characterised him in the conduct of 
more arduous affairs. But it was deemed, by 
some, an extraordinary circumstance that so ju- 
venile and inexperienced a person should have 
been employed on a negociation, with which sub- 
jects of the greatest importance were involved : 
subjects which shortly after became the origin 
of a war between England and France, that 
raged for many years throughout every part of 
the globe. 

As the troubles still subsisted on the frontiers, 
the colony of Virginia raised, the next year, a 
regiment of troops for their defence. Of this 



110 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

corps, Mr. Fry, one of the professors of the col- 
lege, was appointed Colonel, and Major Wash- 
ington received the commission of Lieutenant 
Colonel. But Colonel Fry died the same sum- 
mer, without ever having joined ; and of course 
left his regiment and rank to the second in 
command. Colonel "Washington made indefati- 
gable efforts to form the regiment, establish 
magazines, and open roads so as to pre-occupy 
the advantageous post at the confluence of the 
Allegany and Monongahela rivers, which he 
had recommended for that purpose in his report 
the preceding year. He was to have been joined 
by a detachment of independent regulars from 
the southern colonies, together with some com- 
panies of provincials from North Carolina and 
Maryland. But he perceived the necessity of 
expedition, and without waiting for their arrival, 
commenced his march in the month of May. 
Notwithstanding his precipitated advance, on his 
ascending the Laurel hill, fifty miles short of his 
object, he was advised that a body of French 
had already taken possession and erected a forti- 
fication, which they named fort du Quesne. He 
then fell back to a place known by the appella- 



JEDIDIAH MORSE. HI 

tion of the Great Meadows, for the sake of forage 
and supplies. Here he built a temporary stock- 
ade, merely to cover his stores ; it was from its 
fate called fort Necessity. His force when joined 
by Captain M'Kay's regulars, did not amount to 
four hundred effectives. Upon receiving infor- 
mation from his scouts that a considerable party 
was approaching to reconnoitre his post, he sal- 
lied and defeated them. But in return he was 
attacked by an army, computed to have been 
fifteen hundred strong, and after a gallant de- 
fence, in which more than one third of his men 
were killed and wounded, was forced to capitu- 
late. The garrison marched out with the hon- 
ours of war, but were plundered by the Indians, 
in violation of the articles of capitulation. After 
this disaster, the remains of the Virginia regi- 
ment returned to Alexandria to be recruited and 
furnished with necessary supplies. 

In the year 1755, the British government sent 
to this country general Braddock, who, by the 
junction of two veteran regiments from Ireland, 
with the independent and provincial corps in 
America, was to repel the French from the con- 
fines of the English settlements. Upon a royal 



112 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

arrangement of rank, by which ' no officer who 
did not immediately derive his commission from 
the king, could command one who did,' Col. 
Washington relinquished his regiment and went 
as an extra aid de camp into the family of gen- 
eral Braddock. In this capacity, at the battle of 
Monongahela, he attended that general, whose 
life was gallantly sacraficed in attempting to 
extricate his troops from the fatal ambuscade 
into which his over-weening confidence had con- 
ducted them. Braddock had several horses shot 
under him, before he fell himself; and there was 
not an officer, whose duty obliged him to be on 
horseback that day, excepting Colonel Wash- 
ington, who was not either killed or wounded. 
This circumstance enabled him to display greater 
abilities in covering the retreat and saving the 
wreck of the army, than he could otherwise 
have done. As soon as he had secured their 
passage over the ford of the Monongahela, and 
found they were not pursued, he hastened to 
concert measures for their further security with 
Colonel Dunbar, who had remained with the 
second division and heavy baggage at some dis- 
tance in the rear. To effect this, he travelled 



JEDIDIAH MORSE. 113 

with two guides, all night, through an almost im- 
pervious wilderness, notwithstanding the fatigues 
he had undergone in the day, and notwithstand- 
ing he had so imperfectly recovered from sick- 
ness that he was obliged in the morning to 
be supported with cushions on his horse. The 
public accounts in England and America were 
not parsimonious of applause for the essential ser- 
vice he had rendered on so trying an occasion. 

Not long after this time, the regulation of 
rank, which had been so injurious to the Colo- 
nial officers, was changed to their satisfaction, 
in consequence of the discontent of the officers 
and the remonstrance of Colonel Washington; 
and the supreme authority of Virginia, impressed 
with a due sense of his merits, gave him, in a 
new and extensive commission, the command of 
all the troops raised and to be raised in that 
colony. 

It would not comport with the intended brev- 
ity of this sketch, to mention in detail the 
plans he suggested or the system he pursued 
for defending the frontiers, until the year 1758, 
when he commanded the van brigade of Gen- 
eral Forbes's army in the capture of Fort Du 



114 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Quesne. A similar reason will preclude the re- 
cital of the personal hazards and atchievements 
which happened in the course of his service. 
The tranquillity on the frontiers of the middle 
colonies having been restored by the success of 
this campaign, and the health of Colonel Wash- 
ington having become extremely debilitated by 
an inveterate pulmonary complaint, in 1759 he 
resigned his military appointment. Authentic 
documents are not wanting to shew the tender 
regret which the Virginia line expressed at part- 
ing with their commander, and the affectionate 
regard which he entertained for them. 

His health was gradually re-established. He 
married Mrs. Custis,* a handsome and amiable 
young widow, possessed of an ample jointure; 
and settled as a planter and farmer on the estate 
where he now resides in Fairfax county. After 
some years he gave up planting tobacco, and 
went altogether into the farming business. He 
has raised seven thousand bushels of wheat, 
and ten thousand of Indian corn in one year. 

* General and Mrs. Washington were both born in the same 
year. 



JEDIDIAH MORSE. II5 

Although he has confined his own cultivation 
to this domestic tract of about nine thousand 
acres, yet he possesses excellent lands, in large 
quantities, in several other counties. His judg- 
ment in the quality of soils, his command of 
money to avail himself of purchases, and his 
occasional employment in early life as a sur- 
veyor, gave him opportunities of making ad- 
vantageous locations ; many of which are much 
improved. 

After he left the army, until the year 1775, 
he thus cultivated the arts of peace. He was 
constantly a member of assembly, a magistrate 
of his county, and a judge of the court. He 
was elected a delegate to the first Congress in 
1774 ; as well as to that which assembled in the 
year following. Soon after the war broke out, 
he was appointed by Congress commander in 
chief of the forces of the United Colonies. 

It is the less necessary to particularize, in this 
place, his transactions in the course of the late 
war, because the impression which they made is 
yet fresh in every mind. But it is hoped pos- 
terity will be taught, in what manner he trans- 
formed an undisciplined body of peasantry into 



116 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

a regular army of soldiers. Commentaries on 
his campaigns would undoubtedly be highly in- 
teresting and instructive to future generations. 
The conduct of the first campaign, in compelling 
the British troops to abandon Boston by a blood- 
less victory, will merit minute narration. But 
a volume would scarcely contain the mortifica- 
tions he experienced and the hazards to which 
he was exposed in 1776 and 1777, in contending 
against the prowess of Britain, with an inade- 
quate force. His good destiny and consummate 
prudence prevented want of success from pro- 
ducing want of confidence on the part of the 
public ; for want of success is apt to lead to the 
adoption of pernicious counsels through the 
levity of the people or the ambition of their 
demagogues. Shortly after this period, sprang 
up the only cabal, that ever existed during his 
public life, to rob him of his reputation and 
command. It proved as impotent in effect, as 
it was audacious in design. In the three suc- 
ceeding years the germ of discipline unfolded; 
and the resources of America having been called 
into co-operation with the land and naval armies 
of France, produced the glorious conclusion of 



JEDIDIAH MORSE. I17 

the campaign in 1781. From this time the 
gloom began to disappear from our political 
horizon, and the aiFairs of the union proceeded 
in a meliorating train, until a peace was most 
ably negociated by our ambassadors in Europe, 
in 1783. 

No person, who had not the advantage ot 
being present when general Washington re- 
ceived the intelligence of peace, and who did 
not accompany him to his domestic retirement, 
can describe the relief which that joyful event 
brought to his labouring mind, or the supreme 
satisfaction with which he withdrew to private 
life. From his triumphal entry into New York, 
upon the evacuation of that city by the British 
army, to his arrival at Mount Vernon, after 
the resignation of his commission to Congress, 
festive crowds impeded his passage through all 
the populous towns, the devotion of a whole 
people pursued him with prayers to Heaven for 
blessings on his head, while their gratitude 
sought the most expressive language of mani- 
festing itself to him, as their common father 
and benefactor. When he became a private 
citizen he had the unusual felicity to find that 



118 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

his native state was among the most zealous in 
doing justice to his merits ; and that stronger 
demonstrations of affectionate esteem (if pos- 
sible) were given by the citizens of his neigh- 
borhood, than by any other description of men 
on the continent. But he has constantly de- 
clined accepting any compensation for his ser- 
vices, or provision for the augmented expences 
which have been incurred by him in consequence 
of his public employment, although proposals 
have been made in the most delicate manner, 
particularly by the states of Virginia and Penn- 
sylvania. 

The virtuous simplicity which distinguishes 
the private life of General "Washington, though 
less known than the dazzling splendor of his 
military atchievements, is not less edifying in 
example, or worthy the attention of his country- 
men. The conspicuous character he has acted 
on the theatre of human affairs, the uniform 
dignity with which he sustained his part amidst 
difficulties of the most discouraging nature, and 
the glory of having arrived through them at 
the hour of triumph, have made many official 
and literary persons, on both sides of the ocean, 



JED ID I AH MORSE. UQ 

ambitious of a correspondence with him. These 
correspondencies unavoidably engross a great 
portion of his time ; and the communications 
contained in them, combined with the numerous 
periodical publications and news papers which 
he peruses, render him, as it were, the focus of 
'political intelligence for the new world. JS'or are his 
conversations with well-informed men less con- 
ducive to bring him acquainted with the various 
events which happen in different countries of 
the globe. Every foreigner of distinction, who 
travels in America, makes it a point to visit him. 
Members of Congress and other dignified per- 
sonages do not pass his house, without calling to 
pay their respects. As another source of infor- 
mation it may be mentioned, that many literary 
productions are sent to him annually by their 
authors in Europe; and that there is scarcely 
one work written in America on any art, science, 
or subject, which does not seek his protection, 
or which is not offered to him as a token of 
gratitude. Mechanical inventions are frequently 
submitted to him for his approbation, and natu- 
ral curiosities presented for his investigation. 
But the multiplicity of epistolary applications, 



120 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

often on the remains of some business which 
happened when he was commander in chief, 
sometimes on subjects foreign to his situation, 
frivolous in their nature, and intended merely 
to gratify the vanity of the writers by drawing 
answers from him, is truly distressing and almost 
incredible. His benignity in answering, per- 
haps, encreases the number. Did he not hus- 
band every moment to the best advantage, it 
would not be in his power to notice the vast 
variety of subjects that claim his attention. 
Here a minuter description of his domestic life 
may be expected. 

To apply a life, at best but short, to the most 
useful purposes; he lives as he has ever done, 
in the unvarying habits of regularity, temper- 
ance and industry. He rises, in winter as well 
as summer, at the dawn of day ; and generally 
reads or writes some time before breakfast. He 
breakfasts about seven o'clock, on three small 
indian hoe-cakes and as many dishes of tea. He 
rides immediately to his different farms, and re- 
mains with his labourers until a little past two 
o'clock, when he returns and dresses. At three 
he dines, commonly on a single dish, and drinks 



JEDIDIAH MORSE. 121 

from half a pint to a pint of Madeira wine. 
This, with one small glass of punch, a draught 
of beer, and two dishes of tea (which he takes 
half an hour before sun-setting) constitutes his 
whole sustenance until the next day. "Whether 
there be company or not, the table is always pre- 
pared by its elegance and exuberance for their 
reception ; and the General remains at it for an 
hour after dinner, in familiar conversation and 
convivial hilarity. It is then that every one 
present is called upon to give some absent friend 
as a toast; the name not unfrequently awakens 
a pleasing remembrance of past events, and gives 
a new turn to the animated colloquy. General 
Washington is more chearful than he was in the 
army. Although his temper is rather of a serious 
cast and his countenance commonly carries the 
impression of thoughtfulness, yet he perfectly 
relishes a pleasant story, an unaffected sally of 
vsdt, or a burlesque description which surprises 
by its suddenness and incongruity with the ordi- 
nary appearance of the object described. After 
this sociable and innocent relaxation, he applies 
himself to business ; and about nine o'clock re- 
tires to rest. This is the roiine^ and this the hour 



122 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

he observes, when no one but his family is pres- 
ent ; at other times he attends politely upon his 
company until they wish to withdraw. Notwith- 
standing he has no offspring, his actual family 
consists of eight persons.* It is seldom alone. 
He keeps a pack of hounds, and in the season 
indulges himself with hunting once in a week; 
at which diversion the gentlemen of Alexandria 
often assist. 

Agriculture is the favourite employment of 
General Washington, in which he wishes to pass 
the remainder of his days. To acquire and com- 
municate practical knowledge, he corresponds 
with Mr. Arthur Young, who has written so 
sensibly on the subject, and also with many 
agricultural gentlemen in this country. As im- 
provement is known to be his passion, he re- 



* The family of General Washington, in addition io the 
General and his Lady, consists of Major George "Washington, 
{Nephew io the General and late Aid de Camp to the Marquis 
de la Fayette) with his wife, who is a niece to the General's 
Lady — Col. Humphreys, formerly Aid de Camp to the Gen- 
eral — Mr. Lear, a gentleman of liberal education, private 
secretary io the General — and two Grand Children of Mrs, 
Washington. 



JEDIDIAH MORSE. 123 

ceives envoys with rare seeds and results of new 
projects from every quarter. He likewise makes 
copious notes, relative to his own experiments, 
the state of the seasons, the nature of soils, the 
effects of different kinds of manure, and such 
other topics as may throw light on the farming 
business. 

On Saturday in the afternoon, every week, re- 
ports are made by all his overseers, and registered 
in books kept for the purpose : so that at the end 
of the year, the quantity of labour and produce 
may be accurately known. Order and seconomy 
are established in all the departments within and 
without doors. His lands are inclosed in lots of 
equal dimensions, and crops are assigned to each 
for many years. Every thing is undertaken on 
a great scale : but with a view to introduce or 
augment the culture of such articles as he con- 
ceives will become most beneficial in their conse- 
quence to the country. He has, this year, raised 
two hundred lambs, sowed twenty seven bushels 
of flax-seed, and planted more than seven hun- 
dred bushels of potatoes. In the mean time, the 
public may rest persuaded that there is manu- 
factured, under his roof, linen and woollen cloth. 



124 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

nearly or quite sufficient for the use of his numer- 
ous household. 

[This sketch appears on pages 127-132 of the "American 
Geography, or, a view of the present situation of the United 
States of America." By Jedidiah Morse. Published at 
Elizabethtown, New Jersey, in 1789. It is introduced as a 
note to a reference in the text of the appointment of " George 
Washington, Esq., a native of Virginia, to the chief com- 
mand of the American army." Washington is alluded to 
in the text as follows : " This gentleman had been a dis- 
tinguished and successful officer in the preceding war, and he 
seemed destined by heaven to be the savior of his country. 
He accepted the appointment with a diffidence which was a 
proof of his prudence and his greatness. He refused any 
pay for eight years' laborious and arduous service ; and by 
his matchless skill, fortitude, and perseverance, conducted 
America through indescribable difficulties, to independence 
and peace. While true merit is esteemed, or virtue honored, 
mankind will never cease to revere the memory of this Hero ; 
and while gratitude remains in the human breast, the praises 
of Washington shall dwell on every American tongue." 

The sketch was reprinted in the Massachusetts Magazine 
for May, 1789; at London in 1792, appended to an oration 
on the discovery of America by Elhanan Winchester; and 
at Philadelphia, in 1794, in a 24mo volume, pp. 36, in con- 
nection with a sketch of General Montgomery, from the same 
volume of the "American Geography." It was also ap- 
pended, but more in detail, to " A Prayer and Sermon de- 
livered at Charlestown (Mass.), December 31, 1799, on the 



JEDIDIAH MORSE. 125 

death of George Washington, by Jedidiah Morse, D.D., 
Pastor of the Church in Charlestown," published at Charles- 
town and London the following year. In this extended form 
it was reprinted in the " Washingtoniana," Baltimore, 1800; 
in the "Memory of Washington," Newport, K. I., 1800; in 
"Washington's Political Legacies," New York, 1800; and 
in Dutch, with the sermon, at Harlem, Holland, in 1801. 

Jedidiah Morse, D.D., was born at Woodstock, Conn., 
August 23, 1761, and died at New Haven, June 9, 1826. He 
graduated at Yale College in 1783, was licensed to preach in 
1785, and installed minister of the First Congregational 
Church, Charlestown, Mass., in 1789, which he resigned in 
1820. In the twenty-third year of his age (1784), Dr. Morse 
prepared at New Haven a small geography for the use of 
schools, which was the first work of the kind in America. 
This was followed by larger geographies and gazetteers of the 
United States. He has been termed the " father of American 
geography." — W. S. B.] 



DAVID RAMSAY. 
1789. 



DAVID RAMSAY. 
1789. 

George Washington was, by an unanimous 
vote appointed, commander in chief of all the 
forces raised, or to be raised, for the defence of 
the colonies. It was a fortunate circumstance 
attending his election, that it was accompanied 
with no competition, and followed by no envy. 
That same general impulse on the public mind, 
which led the colonists to agree in many other 
particulars, pointed to him as the most proper 
person for presiding over the military arrange- 
ments of America. Not only Congress but the 
inhabitants in the east and west, in the north 
and south, as well before as at the time of em- 
bodying a continental army were in a great 
degree unanimous in his favour. An attempt 
to draw the character of this truly great man 
would look like flattery. Posterity will doubt- 
less do it justice. His actions, especially now, 
while fresh in remembrance, are his amplest 
panegyric. Suffice it, in his lifetime, only to 

129 



130 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

particularise those qualities, which being more 
common, may be mentioued without olieuding 
the delicate sensibility of the most modest of 
men. 

General "Washington was born on the 11th of 
February, 1732. His education was such as 
favoured the production of a solid mind and a 
vigorous body. Mountain air, abundant exer- 
cise in the open country — the wholesome toils 
of the chace, and the delightful scenes of rural 
life, expanded his limbs to au unusual but grace- 
ful and well proportioned size. His youth was 
spent in the acquisition of useful knowledge, 
and in pursuits, tending to the improvement of 
his fortune, or the benetit of his country. Fitted 
more for active, than for speculative life, he de- 
voted the greater proportion of his time to the 
former, but this was amply compensated by his 
being fi-equently in such situations, as called 
forth the powers of his mind, and strengthened 
them by repeated exercise. Early in life, in 
obedience to his country's call, he entered the 
militar}- line, and began his career of fame in 
opposing that power, in concert with whose 
troops, he has acquired his last and most dis- 



DAVID RAMSAY. 131 

tinguished honours. He was with guiieriil Brad- 
dock in 1755, when that unfortunate officer from 
an excess of bravery, chose rather to sacrifice 
his army than retreat from an unseen foe. The 
remains of that unfortunate corps were brought 
oiF the field of battle chiefly by the address and 
good conduct of Colonel Washington. After the 
peace of Paris 1763, he retired to his estate, 
and with great industry and success pursued the 
arts of peaceful life. When the proceedings of 
the British parliament alarmed the colonists 
with apprehensions that a blow was levelled at 
their liberties, he again came forward into pub- 
lic view, and was appointed a delegate to the 
Congress, which met in September 1774. Pos- 
sessed of a large proportion of common sense 
directed by a sound judgment, he was better 
fitted for the exalted station to which he was 
called, than many others who to a greater bril- 
liancy of parts frequently add the eccentricity of 
original genius. Engaged in the busy scenes 
of life, he knew human nature, and the most 
proper method of accomplishing proposed ob- 
jects. His passions were subdued and kept in 
subjection to reason. His soul superior to party 

9 



132 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

spirit, to prejudice and illiberal views, moved 
according to the impulses it received from an 
honest heart, a good understanding, common 
sense, and a sound judgment. He was habitu- 
ated to view things on every side, to consider 
them in all relations, and to trace the possible 
and probable consequences of proposed meas- 
ures. Much addicted to close thinking, his 
mind was constantly employed. By frequent 
exercise, his understanding and judgment ex- 
panded so as to be able to discern truth, and to 
know what was proper to be done in the most 
difficult conjunctures. 

[David Kamsay, M.D., was born in Lancaster County, Pa., 
2 April, 1749, and died in Charleston, S. C, 8 May, 1815. 
He was graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1765, and 
at the medical department of the College of Philadelphia in 
1773. Settling in Charleston, he soon acquired celebrity as 
a physician, and was also active with his pen in behalf of 
colonial rights. Dr. Eamsay was a delegate to the Conti- 
nental Congress in 1782-86, during which time he collected 
the materials for his " History of the American Kevolution," 
published at Philadelphia in 1789,2 vols., 8vo, from which 
the above character of Washington is taken. It was also 
published at London, 1791 and 1793; Dublin, 1793; Trenton, 
1811 ; in French ; in Dutch, 1792 ; and in German, 1794. 



DAVID RAMS A F. I33 

Dr. Kamsay was the author of a number of historical 
works; among them may be mentioned a "Life of George 
"Washington," New York and London, 1807, 8vo. Of this 
publication there were many subsequent editions. Boston, 
1811 ; Baltimore, 1814, 1816, 1818, 1825, 1832; Ithaca, N. Y., 
1840 ; in French at Paris, 1809 ; and in Spanish at Paris, 
1819; New York, 1825; Philadelphia, 1826; and Barcelona, 
1842.— W. S. B.] 



SAMUEL STEARNS. 
1791. 



SAMUEL STEARNS. 
1791. 

THE CHARACTER OF GENERAL WASHINGTON. 

General Washington was born February 11, 
O. S. 1732, in the parish of Washington in 
Westmoreland County, in Virginia: His an- 
cestors were from England as long ago as 1657 : 
He had his education principally from a private 
tutor ; learnt some Latin, and the art of survey- 
ing. When he was fifteen years of age, he en- 
tered as a midshipman on board a British vessel 
of war, that was stationed on the coast of Vir- 
ginia; but the plan was abandoned, on account 
of the reluctance his mother had against it. 

He was appointed a Major of a regiment be- 
fore he was twenty years old ; and as the French 
had made encroachments on the English settle- 
ments, he was sent in 1753, by Lieutenant- 
Governor Dinwiddle, then Commander of the 
Province, to treat with the French and Indians, 
and to warn them against making encroachments 

137 



138 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

&c. He performed the duties of his mission 
with fidehty. 

In 1754 the Colony of Virginia raised a regi- 
ment for its defence, which was put under the 
command of Colonel Fry, and Major "Washington 
was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the same; 
but the Colonel died that Summer, without join- 
ing the regiment, and the command fell to the 
Lieutenant-Colonel. 

After forming his regiment, establishing mag- 
azines, opening roads, and sundry marches, he 
built a temporary stockade, at a place called the 
Great Meadows; and though his forces did not 
amount to four hundred effective men, he sallied 
out, and defeated a number of the enemy, who 
were coming to reconnoitre his post ; but on his 
return was attacked by an army about 1500 
strong; and after a gallant defence, in which 
more than one third of his men were killed and 
wounded, he was obliged to capitulate. The 
garrison marched out with the honours of war, 
but were plundered by the Indians, in violation 
of the articles of the capitulation. After this 
the remains of his regiment returned to Alexan- 
dria, in Virginia, to be recruited, &c. 



SAMUEL STEARNS. 239 

111 1755, 'as no officer who did not immedi- 
ately derive his commission from the King could 
command one who did,' Colonel Washington 
relinquished his regiment, and went as an extra 
Aid-de-Camp into the family of General Brad- 
dock, who was sent to drive the French, &c. 
from the borders of the English settlements. 

The General was afterwards killed at the battle 
of Monongahela, and his army defeated, where 
Colonel Washington displayed his abilities, in 
covering a retreat, and saving the remains of 
the army. 

Afterwards the supreme authority of Virginia 
gave him a new and extensive commission, 
whereby he was appointed Commander of all the 
troops raised, and to be raised, in that Colony. 

He conducted as a good officer in defending 
the frontiers against the enemy, and in 1758 he 
commanded the van brigade of General Forbes's 
army, in the capture of Fort du Quesne; and, 
by his prudent conduct, the tranquillity of the 
frontiers of the middle Colonies was restored. 
But he resigned his military appointment in 
1759, by reason of his being ill of a pulmonic 
complaint. 



140 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

As his health was afterwards gradually re- 
stored, he married a Mrs. Ciistis, who was born 
the same year that he was : She was a handsome 
and an amiable young widow, possessed of an 
ample jointure, and he settled as a planter and 
a farmer on the estate where he now resides, in 
Fairfax county. After some years, he gave up 
planting tobacco, and went altogether into the 
farming business. He has raised 7000 bushels 
of wheat and 10,000 of Indian corn in one year. 
His domestic plantation contains about 9000 
acres, and he possesses large quantities of ex- 
cellent lands in several other counties. 

He thus spent his time in cultivating the arts 
of peace, but was constantly a Member of the 
Assembly, a Magistrate of his county, and a 
Judge of the Court. In 1774, he was elected 
a Delegate to the first Congress, and was chosen 
again in 1775 ; the same year he was appointed 
by Congress Commander in Chief of the Forces 
of the United Colonies. 

His conduct as a General is so well known, that 
it is needless for me to say much upon the sub- 
ject. He went through many hardships, perils, 
and dangers, and conducted his military opera- 



SAMUEL STEARNS. 141 

tions with such great skill, that at last a peace 
commenced in 1783, whereby thirteen of the 
American Colonies were established as Sovereie-n 
and Independent States. 

Afterwards he resigned his commission to Con- 
gress, and retired to his plantation in Virginia. 

Some time after the peace commenced, he re- 
ceived a diploma from the University at Cam- 
bridge, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
constituting him a Doctor of Laws. 

He is very regular, temperate, and industrious ; 
rises in Winter and Summer at the dawn of the 
day ; generally reads or writes some time before 
breakfast ; breakfasts about seven o'clock on three 
small Indian hoe cakes and as many dishes of 
tea, and often rides immediately to his different 
farms, and remains with his labourers till a little 
after two o'clock, then returns and dresses. At 
three he dines, commonly on a single dish, and 
drinks from half a pint to a pint of Madeira 
wine. This, with one small glass of punch, a 
draught of beer, and two dishes of tea (which 
he takes half an hour before the settino; of the 
Sun) constitutes his whole sustenance until the 
next day. But his table is always furnished with 



142 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

elegance and exuberance; and wlietlier he has 
company or not, he remains at the table an hour 
in familiar conversation, then every one present 
is called upon to give some absent friend as a 
toast. 

His temper is of a serious cast, and his counte- 
nance carries the impression of thoughtful ness ; 
yet he perfectly relishes a pleasant story, an un- 
affected sally of wit, or a burlesque description, 
which surprises by its suddenness and incon- 
gruity, with the ordinary appearance of the 
object described. After he has dined he applies 
himself to business, and about nine retires to 
rest; but when he has company, he attends 
politely upon them till they wish to withdraw. 

His family consists of eight persons, but he 
has no children : He keeps a pack of hounds, 
and in the season goes a hunting once in a 
week, in company with some of the gentlemen 
of Alexandria. 

Agriculture is his favorite employment. He 
makes observations concerning the produce of 
his lands, and endeavours to throw light upon 
the farmer's business. 

Linen and woollen cloths are manufactured 



SAMUEL STEARNS. I43 

under his roof, and order and oecouomy are 
established in all his departments, both within 
and without doors. 

In 1787, he was chosen President of the Fed- 
eral Convention that met at Philadelphia, and 
framed the new Constitution ; and since that 
time he has been chosen President of Congress, 
and has a salary of twenty-five thousand dollars 
per annum. 

Some have pretended that he is a native of 
England; but I understand that he never was 
in Europe. 

[This " Character of General Washington" appears in a 
volume published at London and New York, in 1791, under 
the title of " The American Oracle, Comprehending an Ac- 
count of Recent Discoveries in the Arts and Sciences, with a 
Variety of Eeligious, Political, Physical, and Philosophical 
Subjects, necessary to be known in all Families, for the 
promotion of their present Felicity and future Happiness. 
By the Honourable Samuel Stearns, L.L.D. and Doctor of 
Physic; Astronomer to the Province of Quebec and New 
Brunswick ; also to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
and the State of Vermont in America." 

Samuel Stearns, the author of this remarkable book, was 
born in Bolton, Mass., in 1747. He became a physician and 
astronomer, practising his profession first in "Worcester, 
Mass., then in New York, and finally in Brattleborough, 



144 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Vermont, where he died, August 8, 1819. For his supposed 
loj^alty to King George III., he suffered greatly from the 
persistent attacks of the Sons of Liberty, and was confined 
for nearly three years in a prison in "Worcester. While he 
was a resident of New York he made the calculations for the 
first nautical almanac in this country, which he published 
December 20, 1782. He edited the " Philadelphia Maga- 
zine" in 1789, and beside the "American Oracle," published 
"Tour to London and Paris," London, 1790; " Mystery of 
Animal Magnetism," 1791 ; and " The American Herbal, or 
Materia Medica," Walpole, N. H., 1801. He labored twentj'- 
eight years on a " Medical Dispensatory," and to obtain in- 
formation for it travelled for nine years in Europe and this 
country. On the list of subscribers for this work were the 
names of George Washington and Dr. Benjamin Rush, 

The following notice is taken from vol. ii., p. 278, of 
" Literary Memoirs of Living Authors of Great Britain, 
&c.," London, 1798. " Hon. Samuel Stearnes, M.D., 
L.L.D., Astronomer to his Majesty's provinces of Quebec and 
New Brunswick, «&c. Author of a very singular and, for the 
most part, a very absurd book, entitled ' The American 
Oracle,' published in an octavo volume, in 1791. In this 
work he has given a new and ingenious hypothesis of the 
Aurora Borealis ; but his vanity and his poetry are insup- 
portable. Mr. Stearnes is one of the props of Animal Mag- 
netism, and was a coadjutor of Mr. Cue in working magnetic 
Miracles." 

The Washington sketch (the latter portion of which, de- 
scribing his personal habits and the daily routine at Mount 
Vernon, is taken from the sketch by Jedidiah Morse, page 



SAMUEL STEARNS. 145 

120), was reprinted in the Edinburgh Magazine for September, 
1792, and also in the British Review for the same year; to the 
latter reprint the character sketch of Washington by the 
Marquis de ChasteUux, and Brissot de Warville's account of 
his visit to Mount Vernon in 1788, are added. 

The diploma from Harvard College, conferring the degree 
of Doctor of Laws on Washington, referred to on page 141, 
was dated April 3, 1776, shortly after the evacuation of 
Boston by the British.— W. S. B.] 



JAMES HARDIE. 



10 



JAMES HARDIE. 

General George Washington, the father of 
his country and the friend of mankind, was born 
in Virginia, Feb. 22, 1732 ; commanded a party 
of about 400 Americans and defeated the French 
at Fort Du Quesne 1754; after Braddoc's de- 
feat and death, July 9, 1755, covered the retreat 
and saved the wreck of the American army 
with great abilities and prudence ; unanimously 
elected commander in chief of the American 
forces by Congress, June 16, 1775; arrived at 
Cambridge and took command of the army, 
July 2, following; continued as commander in 
chief till Dec. 23, 1783 ; when having by acts of 
the greatest wisdom and fortitude, vanquished 
the enemies of his country and thus procured 
for it the blessings of liberty and independence, 
he delivered his commission to the President 
of Congress at Annapolis ; unanimously elected 
President of the federal convention, which sat 
at Philadelphia from May 25, to Sept. 17, 1787; 

149 



150 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

unanimously elected President of the United 
States, April 6, 1789: again unanimously re- 
elected 1793. 

[The above brief sketch appears in "The American Ke- 
membrancer, and Universal Tablet of Memory," by James 
Hardie, A.M., published at Philadelphia in 1796. James 
Hardie was a native of Scotland, born about 1750. He was 
a graduate of Marischal College, Aberdeen, and an inmate of 
the family of the poet Beattie, who persuaded him to remove 
to New York, where he was tutor in Columbia College from 
1787 till 1790. He died in that city in 1832. Mr. Hardie 
was the author of a number of works beside " The American 
Kemembrancer ;" among these may be noted "The New 
Universal Biographical Dictionary," 4 vols., 8vo, published 
at New York in 1805, in which the Washington sketch is of 
much greater importance. — W. S. B.] 



'a. Ji 



